Trying Normal
by GreenLady
Summary: After the war Quatre attends school, but a new threat may thwart his attempt at a normal life. Yaoi 1X4. Complete.
1. Chapter 1

 SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1**Title: **Trying Normal

**Author: **GreenLady

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Gundam Wing (obviously), and I'm making no money off this.  It's merely a writing exercise.

**Warnings:** Not many as of now.  Violence, some bad language.  Will eventually have yaoi and live up to its rating.       

            The shrill sound of the bell broke the previous serenity of the locker-lined building.  Students burst out of classroom doors and flooded the halls.  The river of bodies all heading toward the exit swept Quatre along helplessly like a piece of flotsam.  He struggled against the current of high schoolers to get to his locker with a judicious use of force.  It may not be polite to elbow his way through people in other situations, but here it was quite necessary.

            _By Allah, if I would have known school was this dangerous I might have stuck with tutors,_ Quatre thought wryly.  _Of course then I would have missed out on the wonderful experience of cafeteria food, and I would no doubt be sitting at home right now with one of my many sisters enthusiastically smothering, er, I mean mothering, me._  _You'd think that they'd realize that I'm perfectly able to take care of myself, what with me being an ex-gundam  pilot and all, but no.  Baby brother still needs his shoes tied for him and a bib while eating dinner.  _

            It hadn't taken Quatre long after the Maremia incident to realize that he needed to get away from all the well intentioned people who wanted to take care of him.  He was not the same relatively helpless boy he had been before the war.  _Or for that matter during part of it._  _I've been surrounded by people my whole life, even during the war I had the Mangnaunacs._  _It's nice to finally be on my own, and not boxed in by the family name._  

            He wanted to experience a normal life, even if it was only until he turned 21 and took over the family company, and that normal life included attending a regular school like any other 16 year old kid.  And this _was_ Quatre's first time attending school for real.  Several times during the war he had used it for a cover, but he had never stayed long.  

            Quatre removed the books he would need for his homework assignments and neatly slid them into his backpack.  He slung the bag over his shoulder and headed down the now much less clogged hallways.  _With any luck I can get all my homework done before my sisters call to check up on me_, he thought.  This place was a private boarding school, which had solved Quatre's problem of moving out of the Winner mansion quite nicely.  After all, to be enrolled here he had to live on campus, no matter how much his sisters would have liked him to be at home. 

            The small blond emerged into the bright sunlight.  His eyes watering painfully as they adjusted, Quatre became aware that something wasn't quite right.  He heard a thud, the unmistakable sound of a fist hitting flesh, (at least unmistakable to a Gundam pilot) and a cry of pain.  Jeering laughter followed the cry, and Quatre followed the laughter around the corner.

            Around the side of the building was a scene that was one of those unfortunate familiarities of the school yard.  Three large teenagers surrounded a smaller boy.  Quatre was just in time to watch one of the three send their victim sprawling and his glasses flying.

            "You better watch where you're going, loser.  You ran right into my fist!"

            "I-I'm sorry," came the soft, quivering voice.

            Quatre had seen enough.  The ex-pilot stepped between the bullies and their target.

            "Have you no honor?"  Quatre said in an unconscious imitation of Wufei.  "There's three of you and one of him.  Have you no shred of human decency?" 

            The bully looked down at the little blond standing up to him in shock.  This kid was only about half his mass, and had to look way, way up in order to meet his eye.  He grinned slowly.  "Look, new kid, maybe you don't know how things are around here, so I'll give you this one chance to get out of here before I pound your sorry little ass, along with the geek's."  

            Quatre studied him for a minute, aquamarine eyes sad.  "You like to hurt others, don't you guys?  Then you're just going to have to try and hurt me, because I'm not moving."

            "You little smart-mouthed punk . . . " The bully took a threatening step toward him, but was stopped when one of his cohorts grabbed his arm.  "What the hell are you doing?!"  He hissed, only to cut himself off when he saw what his companion was already aware of. 

            "And what's going on here, Mr. Akens?"  A tall man, obviously a teacher, stood glaring at them all.  "Shouldn't you boys be heading to football practice now?  If we want to defend are championship this year you fine young athletes better keep in practice." 

            "Yes sir, we were just on are way, when Davis here distracted us, but we're going now," one of the bullies said.

            The teacher peered behind Quatre at the boy in question.  The obviously hurt boy.  "Well see that you go now and don't let any more _distractions_ take place.  Mr. Davis, kindly make sure to stay out of the way of the football team."  He sighed, exasperated, and then glared at Quatre suspiciously.  "Maybe your new friend can help you."  He stomped off, gesturing for the smirking bullies to follow.

            Quatre stared after him in shock.  _What exactly is going on here?  A teacher just lets students beat on others without any punishment?_  _I feel like I walked into one of those awful teen movies that Duo is so fond of. _A groan shook him out of his surprise.  He quickly knelt down beside the boy on the ground. 

            "Are you all right?"  He asked anxiously, finally getting a good look at the damage.  _By Allah!  Of course he's not all right.  Way to ask a stupid question Quatre._  The boy's nose was bleeding, and the side of his left eye was just starting to swell.  

            "Where are my glasses, I can't see anything," he muttered in reply.

            Quatre searched the ground beside him, and came up with a pair of slightly bent glasses.  He futilely tried to straighten them for a minute, and then gave it up as a lost cause and handed them back to their owner.  

            "I'm Quatre Raberba, what's your name?"  He left the Winner off deliberately  because it was just to well known, and he was trying to avoid the media attention that came hand in hand with being heir to a large fortune.

            The boy tried to put his glasses on, but they slipped.  Awkwardly, he held them to his head.  "Eric Davis," he said.  The glasses magnified his brown eyes terribly, making him look like a particularly disgruntled bug.  "Look, thanks for stopping them and all, but now you've just gotten yourself in trouble with me."

            "What do you mean?"

            "I mean that they're going to come after you too.  This school has a winning football team, and the teachers don't want to do anything to upset the players, so they can get away with all kinds of stuff."  Eric looked him up and down.  "And no offense, but you sure don't look like  _you_ could stop them, so now we're both screwed."

            "I'm tougher than I look," Quatre said with a gentle smile.

            Eric stared at the small, gentle-looking blond in disbelief.  "Riiight . . ."

            "Here, let me help you to the nurse," Quatre carefully helped Eric stand, noticing that they were both about the same height.

            "I don't need to go to the nurse, I'll be fine."

            Quatre frowned at him critically, noting the particularly obstinate expression.  He wasn't hurt to badly really.  Nothing a little ice and some time wouldn't cure.  "Alright, but the least I can do is help you to your room."

            "I don't need the help, but if you really want to, knock yourself out."

            Eric took a couple wobbly steps, he was shaking slightly, but he managed to get himself mostly under control so that they could start walking.  Quatre produced a handkerchief that Eric could hold to his nose to stop the blood flow, and they were on their way.  They trudged along silently, until they reached a rather regal, grey-stoned building.

            "This is where you live?"  Quatre asked.

            "Uh-huh."

            "Me too!  I live on the fourth floor, which one are you on?"

            "Oh, I'm actually on the fourth too.  I guess we're neighbors."  Quatre decided to ignore the complete lack of enthusiasm in Eric's statement. 

            The two boys trudged up the many flights of stairs to their rooms.  Eric's was only a few doors away from Quatre's.  "Look, it was nice to meet you and everything Quatre," Eric began gloomily, "but you shouldn't have gotten involved in my problems, because these guys just won't leave you alone, and I'm sure you're going to be sorry you ever met me."

            "I doubt that," Quatre said with a smile, "I would never be sorry to make a new friend.  See you tomorrow Eric.  Make sure to put some ice on your eye."  He waved goodbye and went to his own room.  _Poor kid, he really must have had some rough breaks with people, _Quatre thought.  He set his backpack beside his single bed, (he had paid a little extra to get room to himself), and took out his homework.  He still had a couple of hours before any of his sisters called to check up on him.

            Two hours later, as predicted, the vid phone started to beep.  Quatre answered the call, and stared in surprise when he realized the person on the other end was definitely not one of his sisters.  Unless said sister had gotten a sex change.

            "Hi Wufei, this is a surprise."  Quatre hadn't seen Wufei in months. 

            "Quatre."

            _Loquacious as ever I see._  "You're looking well, Wufei, how has your work at the Preventers been?"

            "It's kept me occupied."

            "Are you working with Duo and Trowa a lot?"

            "Sometimes."            

"How's Sally?"

            "She's fine."

            _It's like pulling conversational teeth_."Not that I don't enjoy talking to you, Wufei, but is there something in particular that you called about?"

            "Actually Quatre, yes."  Wufei looked relieved to finally get down to business.  "There's a new terrorist group that's been active lately.  Their numbers are small and they're involved in corporate espionage, but so far they've stuck to minor sabotage.  Usually they wouldn't be something that the Preventers would need to bring outside help in to deal with.  But they've just gotten a new leader, somebody dangerous, somebody that only we gundam pilots can fight."

            "Why only us?"

            "Because it's a gundam pilot we're up against."


	2. Chapter 2

 SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1**Title:** Trying Normal

**Author:** GreenLady

**Warnings:** Violence, mild swearing.  Will eventually be yaoi and live up to its rating.

**Disclaimer:** Don't own them, receiving no monetary compensation.  This is only for fun.

**Notes:** Serious thanks go out to Kasra for helping me overcome my stupidity, hopefully this will be much more readable now.  I realize the whole "football players rule the school as insufferable jerks" idea is a cliche**, **and one probably unfair to football players,but trust me when I say there's going to be way more to the story than just that.****

**Chapter 2**

            Quatre was quiet for a minute after Wufei dropped his informational bomb, he could see where this was going, and he didn't like it.  "Zechs?"  He asked hopefully.

            "Heero."

            The blond winced.  "But how could that be possible?  Heero said he never had to kill again, that he didn't want to, it just doesn't make any sense!"

            "Our Intel isn't wrong."

            "Well then he must have a good reason!  This is Heero we're talking about, Wufei."

            "Maybe, but if he does have a reason, we haven't figured it out.  He didn't infiltrate Quatre, he's  leading them."

            They stared at each other for a couple of uncomfortable minutes.  Then Quatre said quietly, "there has to be a reason.  Tell me about this group, what their goals are, what kind of people join."

            "We've got quite a bit of information on them.  But I won't relay all of it over an unsecured line.  Come into headquarters tomorrow, Duo and Trowa will be there too, we'll go over everything then."

            "I just started school, Wufei.  It's going to be difficult to get away."

            "Come in during the afternoon when your classes are finished.  Its Friday tomorrow so you'll have the weekend won't you?  You can come up with some kind of excuse for however long we need you to be away for the rest of the time.  This is important."

            "I realize that, I'll be there, don't worry."

            Wufei nodded, "Goodbye until tomorrow then."  He cut the connection without any more ceremony.

            Quatre stared at the blank screen without really seeing it.  _Heero, what's going on?_

            Quatre spent the next school day with only half of his attention on class.  The other half was on his impending meeting at the Preventers.  Last period gym was the only thing interesting enough to break through his inattention.

            When the ex-pilot walked into the gymnasium he was happy to realize that he knew some of his classmates already.  He waved and called hello to the almost embarrassingly friendly redhead from his history class.  (Quatre wasn't quite dense enough to miss the fact that she had a crush on him, though sometimes he wished he were).  He also smiled at his lab partner from biology.  But he did not stop to chat with either because he recognized somebody else.

             Eric stood alone a little to the side of the main group, arms crossed protectively around himself.

            Quatre looked him over critically.  He had some spectacular bruises, but otherwise didn't look to bad.  "Hi Eric, how are you feeling?"

            The bespeckled boy looked startled that the blond was talking to him again.  "Uh, I'm not feeling to bad, thanks."  

            Quatre managed to strike up a conversation with him by asking about gym class; what their teacher was like, what kind of sports they had already covered, basically all the mundane, class-related topics he could think of.  _If there's one thing I'm good at, it's small talk.  All those business functions of fathers' actually came in handy for something._  He actually had Eric acting more comfortable with him, but then he glanced behind the blond and suddenly froze, his face going pale.

            Quatre glanced back, following his gaze.  It was two of the football players from yesterday.  This time they had two other friends with them, obviously more teammates by the muscle bound look to them.  _Is the entire team on steroids?_  Quatre thought with a mental sigh.  One of them from yesterday pointed at the small blond and whispered something to his buddy.  Luckily the teacher came in at that moment, keeping the bullies from doing anything.  She was a tall woman built like an amazon, but she had a kind smile that the students couldn't help but respond to.  Today was part of the fitness testing unit, and they were going to work on the rope climb.  The teacher explained that she didn't expect everyone to be able to ascend all the way to the top, and that students would be graded on how hard they tried, not how well they did.  _That's a nice and realistic attitude_, Quatre thought.  _Most people don't have the upper body strength or the training to climb straight up like this._

            Unfortunately, not everyone had as enlightened an attitude as the teacher.  The football players kept up a derogatory running commentary on those who couldn't do it.  They practically reduced the redhead from Quatre's history class to tears.  And though the teacher looked like an amazon, she didn't act like one, and the players pretty much ignored her reprimands.  Eric took his turn and the taunts with an air of the resigned around him.  He didn't even get two feet up the rope, to the delight of his audience.  

            Then it was Quatre's turn, being the new kid he went at the end, because he was last on the list.  The bullies snickered and nudged each other as they watched the fragile-looking blond walk to the rope.  But for once they weren't going to have any fodder for criticism.  Quatre grabbed the rope and waited for the stop watch to start.  When he got the go ahead he shinnied up the rope with the all the dexterity that came from being a gundam pilot.  He was used to climbing into a giant mecha, one little rope wasn't going to cause him any problems.  For once the audience was quiet, and so it was easy to hear the instructor's quiet voice give him a time that was faster than anyone else, and topped the record the bullies had set by a ridiculously wide margin.

            Quatre returned to his seat on the uncomfortable concrete floor beside Eric, ignoring the angry murmurs that came from the jocks whose record he had just squashed.  The redhead with the crush turned and smiled adoringly at him from the front of the group, earlier tears apparently forgotten.

            Eric leaned over to whisper in his ear, sounding completely stunned.  "How the hell did you do that?"

            "I told you already, I'm tougher than I look," he whispered right back, lips barely moving.  The bell rang, interrupting anything the other boy might have said in reply.  Quatre jumped to his feet and hurried out the door, ignoring the bullies who were sending him threatening looks.  _I'm sure we'll have a confrontation of some sort soon, but right now I just don't have the time.  I need to find out what's going on with Heero Yuy._

            Several hours later Quatre arrived at Earth's main Preventer head quarters.  The building itself was a huge glass plated skyscraper, with the Preventer offices located on the twenty-fifth floor.  The Arabian stopped at the reception desk to find out where he was supposed to meet the others.  

            "Excuse me," Quatre said politely to the thin guy manning the entrance, "can you please tell me where I can find Preventer Chang Wufei?"

            The receptionist looked down his thin nose at the small blond.  "Do you have an appointment?"  He asked frostily.

Quatre blinked, "um, not a specific time, no.  He just said to come in during the afternoon . . . maybe he penciled me in somewhere.  My name is Quatre Raberba Winner."

            The man typed for a second, stabbing the keys viciously.  "Nope, your name isn't anywhere on here."

            "Then could you please page Wufei and tell him I'm here?"

            The man smiled with a look of superiority infusing his features.  "I wouldn't presume to bother a peace keeping officer.  Come back when you have an appointment," he said, voice clipped.

            Quatre stared at him open-mouthed for a second.  "Now listen here. . ."

            "Quatre!"

            The ex-pilot turned in mid sentence, and smiled in relief when he saw whom it was.  "Sally!  Hello!"

            Sally grinned at him, "I was just wondering when you were going to show up.  Come on, Wufei and Lady Une are both waiting to fill you in."

            She hurried him past the annoyed secretary, who had turned rather pale once he had heard the name of Lady Une.

            "Sorry about that, Quatre, the man is an inflated wind bag, but the higher ups like to keep him around, they seem to think he adds a bit of class to this operation.  

            "It's okay Sally, I'm just glad you came along or I may have had to do something that I'd regret."

            "He does seem to have that effect on people, though I'm surprised he managed to get on _your_ last nerve.  On more than one occasion I've had to keep Wufei from sticking him with that oversized knife he carries, but he's not exactly known for his serene temper, so that's no surprise."

            They arrived at a huge, imposing door. On the door there was a gold plaque graced with elegant black letters spelling out the name of Lady Une.  _They sure are going to an awful lot of trouble to make the Preventers look legit, _Quatre thought.  _This is all very upscale, it's unusual to spend so much on law enforcement.  I wonder who went to all this trouble and why?_

            Sally pushed the door open without knocking and beckoned him inside.  The room was so large that it was intimidating, as it was meant to be, a mahogany desk dominated the space.  Trowa and Wufei sat in chairs facing the desk, behind it sat their boss, Lady Une.

Everyone turned and looked at Quatre and Sally as they came in.  "Hello Quatre, I'm glad that you could join us," Lady Une said.  Trowa smiled at Quatre in greeting while Wufei merely nodded his head in acknowledgment.  "Have a seat Quatre, Sally."  Lady Une pointed to the chairs between the two ex-pilots.  "We're still waiting on Duo Maxwell, so you might as well sit down."

            Wufei snorted in disgust, "Maxwell would be late to his own funeral, this isn't exactly a shock."

            "Why Wufei, buddy, I'm absolutely wounded that you think so little of me!"  They all looked up in time to see the American stroll in with a big grin.  "Hey Q-man, long time no see!"

            "Hi Duo, it's good to see you too."

            Duo pulled out a chair, turned it around, and sat so that he was straddling the back.  "So are we going to get this party started or what?"

            "Yes Mr. Maxwell, we are," Une replied calmly.  "Wufei, it's your case, you have the floor."

            Wufei nodded.  "We've," he nodded at Sally, "been keeping an eye on the fairly insignificant organization known as Red Thorn for several months now.  A week ago we found out that there had been a leadership change, since then they've become much more highly organized, and therefore much more of a threat." 

            "That sounds like Yuy alright," Duo said, "that guy's middle name is anal, he is _so_ fucking organized."

            Wufei frowned at the interruption.  "Red Thorn is built on the premise that corporations are destroying traditional life.  They claim that these corporations hold to much power, and misuse it.  Before the leadership change they took credit for the sabotage of machinery and things of that nature.  Nothing was damaged that would cause more than a minor setback in the running of these companies, and we actually caught some of the members responsible.  The name Red Thorn comes from the claim that they are, in the words of their members 'a thorn in the side of corporations.'   Until recently, they never seemed to have high enough ambitions to be more than the small nuisance that they claimed to be."

            "Leave a thorn in long enough and it can cause an infection," Trowa said solemnly.

            Duo looked like he wanted to say something to that but Wufei continued before he could.  "Unfortunately with Heero leading them that becomes true.  Yesterday there was a big explosion in the heart of a building where computers are manufactured.  It took out all the important machinery to the assembly process.  It was a very methodical attack."  

            Wufei hesitated, then looked at Quatre.  "The building was part of Winner Enterprises."


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:  **Don't own, just borrowing.  No money made here.

**Warnings:**  Swearing, violence, a rightly deserved ass-kicking.  Eventual yaoi of the 1X4 kind.

**Chapter 3**:

Quatre stared blankly at Wufei before finally speaking.  "That explains why you wanted me here today, I was wondering."

            "It's not just that Quatre," Sally said, "you're a Gundam pilot, all of you are, and this is a matter that is best suited for you all to do together."

            "Yeah Q-man, we need you on this."

            Quatre however was frowning, his mind already on something else.  "Wufei, did Red Thorn ever target my family's company before?"

            "No, there have been plenty of other corporations to go after."

            "So why, as soon as Heero takes over, do they target Winner Enterprises?  Why, out of all the corporations out there, _my _company?"

            "I can't answer that, we don't know what he's thinking right now."

            "It could just be a coincidence," Lady Une said slowly, "it probably has nothing to do with you.  Besides, you really don't have any legal control over the Winner holdings right now."

            "Maybe, but something tells me that even if it doesn't have anything to do with me, it does have something to do with Winner Enterprises itself, and there could lie the key to figuring this whole thing out.  This isn't like Heero at all, he wouldn't do anything like this without a good reason."

            "That's true," Duo began, "Heero Yuy doesn't do anything without a reason, the guy was always obsessed with completing his mission to the point of suicide, something I'm sure none of us could forget."

            "Yuy could believe the group's aims are just.  Maybe he doesn't think much of the corporate world," Wufei said thoughtfully.  "Though I too have a hard time believing that he would go about it in such a way as to endanger the lives of the innocents."

"Nevertheless, don't completely discount the possibility that Heero has gone bad.  He's an obsolete soldier, it may have been harder to let go of his past then he originally thought."

            "We're all obsolete soldiers, Lady Une, even you," replied Trowa, "and none of us have gone back to our old lives."

            "We are part of the Preventers.  For all intents and purposes, we are soldiers still.  Heero disappeared after his gundam was destroyed, he hasn't had the same kind of driving purpose that the rest of us were given."

            Quatre frowned at Une.  "I haven't been part of the Preventers, does that leave me without a mission in life and a likelihood to go bad?" 

            "No of course not, but you're different."  

            Quatre's eyebrows shot up, but before he could ask exactly what she meant by that, they were interrupted by a knock on the door.  

            "Enter," Une called.

            A young man in a uniform came in and saluted.  "I'm sorry to interrupt, ma'am, but there's just been an explosion in the warehouse district.  Nobody's dead, though there are some injuries.  The employees were evacuated after some one called in a bomb threat, but there's a great deal of property damage.  Red Thorn is claiming the incident."

            "Who owns the building?"  

            The young Preventer looked at his notes.  "It was a storage facility of Winner Enterprises, ma'am." 

            Lady Une sucked in a breath.  "Thank you, you are dismissed."  

            After the door closed Une spoke.  "So, possibly not a coincidence after all.  Wufei, Sally, go to the warehouse and check this out."

            "I would like to go too."

            "No Quatre, I can't let you do that right now.  I'm still working on getting you Preventer clearance.  It will take a couple more days."  Her expression softened slightly.  "I'm sorry, but I have to follow protocol.  Everything must be done correctly or you'll have problems later on with my superiors." 

            Quatre frowned, but then nodded reluctantly.

            "Lady, it'd be nice if Q and I could go over the information that we have on Red Thorn."

            Une smiled, "that's a good idea Duo, than you'll both be up to speed when I get Quatre's clearance through."  She handed them the disk that contained Red Thorn's data.  "Trowa, stay behind, I have something for you to do." 

            Everyone filed out except for Trowa and Une.  Sally and Wufei headed for the scene of the explosion, while Duo took Quatre to a café across the street.  After they were seated the Arabian boy had to smile  "Duo, only you would think to look at sensitive information in the middle of a crowded café."

            "Hey, at least I didn't bring you to a strip joint," he said flippantly.

            "Depends what kind of strip joint we're talking about."

            Duo gaped, and then leaned over and grabbed the blonde's face.  He turned it to one side, and then the other.   Then he let go and frowned, making a big show of scratching his head.   "What exactly are you doing?"  Quatre asked, amused.

"Q, my man, I just had to make sure it was really you and not your lascivious clone."

            Quatre grinned.  "Big word Duo, I'm impressed."

            "I know, sometimes my brilliance surprises even me."

            Their waiter took their orders, and after he left Quatre remembered something.  "Duo, I was going to ask Sally this but it slipped my mind.  What's with all the extras at headquarters?  I mean . . . the reception area alone looks like it belongs in a fancy hotel, not in law enforcement offices."

            "It's all about image, Q.  There've been some politicians worried that the Preventers weren't going to be taken seriously.  They wanted the people to have trust in us, make us look less like a bunch of ex-killers slapped haphazardly together, and more like a highly efficient government force for order.  I guess they equate plush new digs, nice new uniforms, and secretaries with a _big_ stick up their ass, with efficiency.  Don't know why, the world works in weird ways."

            "But where does the money for all of this come from?  It can't all come from taxpayers."

            "Don't know.  You'll have to ask Lady Une about that."  Duo winked suddenly.  "I can see you're going to be good at running your own company, Q, you've got a frighteningly financial mind.  I'm sure you'll be good at keeping track of every penny.  You know, I was wondering, you've got all this money and you're a smart guy to boot, so why did you go back to school?"

            "I wanted to try being a normal kid for a little while."

            "Geez, don't know why you'd want to do that.  I tried it a couple of times before the war and it was hell.  Half the stuff they teach you is worthless in the Real World, besides being a normal kid is overrated."  He winked again.  "It's much more fun to be the dashing Preventer agent, it impresses the chicks, and the guys!"

            Quatre smiled at the joke.  "Probably, but I've never gotten to go to school without using it as a cover."

            "Didn't you serve your time when you were a little kid?"

            "No, I always had tutors."

            "Man, guess that makes sense then."  The waiter came back with their food and conversation was put on hold so that they could eat.

            After they finished eating, or in the American boy's case, inhaling, Duo pulled out his laptop and inserted the disk, turning the screen so that Quatre could see as well.  The blond raised his eyebrows at the data.  "The Preventers sure have managed to collect a lot of information on Red Thorn.  Look at all this," he exclaimed, scrolling down, "member profiles complete with surveillance photos, known areas of operation, group dynamics . . . why weren't they disbanded months ago?"

            "It's called luck, and these fortunate schmucks used a lifetime's allotted batch in just a few short months evading capture.  Of course now they don't need luck, they have Heero Yuy."

 The two ex-pilots spent the next hour going through all the data that the Preventers had collected on Red Thorn.  Finally, they decided to call it a night, Duo heading to his apartment, and Quatre returning to his room on campus.

            Quatre was just about to go into his room when he heard the soft click of another door opening.  He turned and saw his shy neighbor stepped out into the hallway, juggling a stack of books while trying to close and lock his door.  "Here Eric, let me help you with that," Quatre said, hurrying to him and relieving his burden so that he could lock up.

            "Thanks," he said, taking back the pile.

            "You're welcome, where are going with all these books?"

            "I have an econ paper due on Monday, so I'm heading over to the library."

            Quatre raised an eyebrow.  "Looks like you checked out half the library already."

            He smiled weakly.  "Oh, yeah, while I'm kind of having a hard time with my essay.  I don't get this stuff."

            "That's understandable, these books aren't easy reading."  The blond said, looking at the titles.  He pointed to a particularly thick book.  "Especially that one.  Conrad tends to use two pages to explain when a couple of paragraphs would be sufficient.  You know, Eric, I'm actually pretty proficient at economics, it's my best subject.  If you want I'd be happy to go to the library with you.  We could find some sources that aren't written to be ridiculously obtuse and I could help you get started on your paper."

            The smile that brightened the other boy's face was suddenly blinding in intensity.  "Oh, would you?  I've just been suffering and suffering with this thing all week, I feel like my head's going to explode if I have to look at one more AD-AS model!  It's just not my thing, and our instructor is unfair and totally has it in for me . . ."

            Quatre blinked in astonishment as Eric continued to ramble with hysterical relief.  _This is certainly the most I've ever heard him talk, poor kid.  I think he just really needs someone to give him a little positive attention.  It's not fair that the other kids treat him so badly.  I was going to call Ira and find out what I can about the explosions, but she probably wouldn't appreciate being called until things get settled down.  I'll contact her early tomorrow_.  That decided, the Arabian waited for the elated boy to finish talking.  "I'm just going to put my things away Eric, then we can go."  He suited words to actions, and soon they were at the library.  Quatre looked through the shelves and picked several books that his father had him read as a child.  Eric looked at what he had picked out.

            "_The Peaceful Economy_," he read.  Eric glanced at the author.  "Winner . . . hey, isn't that the name of that big family who owns all those things in outer space?"

            Quatre smiled absently, still picking through books.  "They actually own a great deal on earth now too."

            The two boys sat down at a big wooden table.  Within an hour Quatre had Eric both understanding the material and planning out his paper.

            "Thanks Quatre, you seriously saved me.  I think I better head back to my room now so I can use my computer to start writing."

            They left the library and headed back to their building.  The sun was just starting to set, crimson rays bleeding over the horizon.  _I can't believe it's only been one day with all that's happened.  School, snooty secretaries, and making a new friend, while another one explodes bits and pieces of my company._  _I just can't wait for this day to be over, I need to think some of this through._

But he wasn't to be that lucky yet.

They where only half way home to their building when Quatre felt Eric stiffen beside him.  The blond glanced up, startled by the reaction.  Leaning against a tree were the three football players who had been beating on Eric.  _I'm surprised he noticed them before me.  He's got the same kind of instincts that soldiers develop during wars, keeping a third eye out for the enemy at all time.  I guess this is his enemy._  He watched one of the behemoths point at them and smile.  _Correction, this is our enemy,_ he thought to himself grimly.

The other boys started to stalk toward them, hyenas converging on a fresh carcass.  _Only we're not dead yet, and I don't plan to live like I already am._  Eric started to back away, but stopped when he realized Quatre wasn't following.  "Come _on,_ if we beat them back to the library they won't be able to do anything to us, it's a supervised place!"

"I'm not going to live like that Eric, it's not in my nature."  Quatre stepped firmly in front of Eric.

One of the bullies smirked when he caught what the little blond had said.  "Ah, did you hear that?  The little guy is fearless.  How nice."

Eric let out a resigned breath and moved the Arabian out of the way, moving to stand beside him.  "You know we're both probably going to have to go to the hospital tonight," he whispered.

"Maybe, maybe not," Quatre murmured softly.

"Now we're going to beat both your sorry little asses into the ground!"  He scowled at the ex-pilot.  "You little shit head, you're going to be sorry that you didn't skip gym!"

Quatre looked at him coolly, eyebrows raised.  "Don't you think you're taking this a little too seriously?  It is only gym class after all, and besides I would never skip a class."

The glare the bully was trying to pin the blond with intensified as he guffawed.  "Little fucking wannabe teacher's pet.  Never skips class!"

One of the others snickered.  "That's pathetic, Blondie and bug head are a perfect set, its definitely true love!  I don't think he would ever dare break a rule either, no one would let that loser get away with it.  We're a lot more important to this school than you."  He puffed out his chest.  "I skip all the time."

"That explains it."

The bully looked at the innocent seeming blonde in confusion.  "Explains what?"

Quatre smiled sweetly.  "Why you're so asinine."

The football player frowned at the blond, trying to figure out what he had just said.  Then he turned to his teammates.  "Did he just insult me?"

"I'm not sure, I think so," one said, scratching his head, and prompting his confused friend into action.

The bully snarled and suddenly moved forward, throwing a fast punch meant to connect with the blonde's jaw.

But an ex-gundam pilot is faster.

Quatre stepped neatly out of the path of the blow, grabbed the other boy's arm, and flipped him painfully over his shoulder.  The bully landed with a thud, the wind knocked out of him.  He tried to groan, but at the moment all he could make was a funny wheezing sound.  

Everyone stared at Quatre for a moment in frozen shock.  Then the other two toughs moved forward with the intent to do damage and avenge their gasping friend.

Only things didn't quite work out that way.

There was a sudden confused blur of movement, arms, legs, and fists occasionally visible, then the metaphorical dust cleared and the two jerks lay unconscious and bruised on the ground.

Quatre stepped calmly over the two insensible students and took Eric's arm, steering him away from the scene of the fight and back toward home.  The boy stared at the little blonde, eyes huge behind his glasses, gaping like a fish.  He swallowed a couple of times, not quite able to get enough saliva to speak.  "How . . . when . . . where did you learn that?"  He finally managed.

_And what am I supposed to tell him now?_ He thought to himself._  Allah, that was brilliant.  For a supposed strategist I sure don't think things through.  I suppose I could have made that look a little more difficult than it actually was._

"Well," he finally said as he opened the outside door to building, "I actually spent some time fighting in the war."

Eric's jaw dropped.  "In the war?"  He squeaked.  "But you would have been fifteen during the fighting and in school with the rest of us!"

"There were actually quite a few people who were legally considered children.  We all fought because we felt there was no other choice for us."  Eric was still staring, so Quatre decided to fudge the truth a little.  "I didn't do much or get that involved.  I just stayed long enough to pick up some self defense."

"_Some_ self-defense!?"  He hissed incredulously.

"Yeah."  _I need to end this conversation before he gets over his shock enough to ask the intelligent questions, like what side I fought for._  "Look Eric, it's getting late and I'm exhausted.  How about we finish this conversation tomorrow night?  We can maybe go to that nice restaurant with the tables outside?  Than you can ask any questions you want when you're not as excited."  Quatre barely waited for Eric's nod before bolting to his room, without actually making it seem like bolting.  _Another thing to thank father's social functions for:  the quick but dignified exit.  _

After he shut the door behind him, Quatre looked around the room.  At least now he had something to take his mind off the Heero situation.

Now lets just hope I can come up with something suitably believable by tomorrow night, Quatre thought.

**Notes:**  Okay, this is finally going somewhere, and its my longest chapter yet!   It didn't go exactly like I thought, but that's the fun thing with this particular piece of fan fiction.  It has a mind  of its own.   Oh, I almost forgot, Conrad isn't a real economist (at least not to my knowledge), and despite taking a macro econ class I know nothing, so I tried to gloss over that part as fast as possible.  Quatre's way smarter than me!  

I just hope this makes as much sense to my readers (all 3 of you) as it does to me in my head.  Please review.

Next chapter important stuff will happen.  I'm popping these babies out as fast as I can!


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:**  Don't own, just borrowing.  I promise to return them without becoming any richer.

**Warnings:**  Some swearing, violence.  Eventual yaoi of the 1X4 variety.

Chapter 4 

            The next morning a rude ray of sunlight worming its way through the blinds woke Quatre.  He was severely tempted to just role over and go back to sleep.  _I don't want to face the day.  Would anybody really miss me if I just sunk back into the blankets and hibernated tell summer?  _He sighed.  _Yep.  Time to face the music.  I have to call Ira and get some work done today before I meet Eric for my inquisition._  He peeled himself out of bed, took a shower, brushed his teeth, got dressed and then sat down in front of his vid phone.

            Ira answered on the first ring.  She smiled when she saw him.  "My elusive baby brother!  I tried to call you last night but you must have been out partying."

            "I was helping a friend with a paper.  Did you try and call about the explosions?"

            "It's just a mess isn't it?  Everybody has been crazy around here, but, no that's not why I called.  I've got some good news, it's cheered all the sad faces over here.  Terra is getting married!"

            Terra was Quatre's fifth to last sister.  "I assume it's someone you approve of then?"

            "Definitely, it's that charming man who worked so close with father.  You remember Everett Orth, don't you?"

            Quatre's smile grew brittle.  "Yes, I remember."  Orth was indeed a charming man.  He had most of the Winner family convinced he could do no wrong, but Quatre had seen another side to him.  

He had first met Everett Orth when he was six.  He was his father's right hand man in those days, and had come over for dinner.  Quatre had always been sensitive to others, and when his father had first brought him forward to meet Orth, he had immediately felt wrongness in him.  That had caused the little blond to do something unforgivable in his father's eyes.  He displayed rudeness.  He refused to shake the man's hand, and had hid behind one of his sisters to avoid him.  His father had been furious with him for the entire meal.  

Later that night, Quatre was practicing the piano, far away from his angry father, when Orth had come in.  He had asked Quatre why he was so rude to him.  He had a cold, detached voice.  The little boy was petrified and hadn't answered.  Orth had smiled, and walked to stand beside the piano.  All Quatre could do was stare up at him, hands still posed on the keys.  Orth had asked his question again, and when he still did not answer the older man calmly reached down and slammed the keyboard cover shut, right on Quatre's little hands.

The little boy's shriek had been heard all over the mansion.

No one had believed that the incident was deliberate.  Orth was very contrite, insisting that it was an accident, that he had been merely standing there and listening to Quatre play when he had inadvertently bumped the piano, causing it to fall shut.  To this day none of his sisters believed him, choosing instead to think that it was a confused six-year-old mind that had gotten premeditation mixed up with accident.

Quatre had avoided the man as much as possible since.

"Quatre, you okay?"

He blinked, realizing that he had been sitting still for a while with the brittle smile still pasted to his face.  "Yes, I'm sorry, I just kind of spaced out."

"You were six, Quatre, can't you just admit to the possibility that you were wrong?"

He frowned and changed the subject.  "So how has everyone been handling the recent crisis."

Ira grimaced.  "It's been difficult, but most of the burden for handling it has fallen to Everett."

"What?"

"Oh, the two places that were hit are his responsibility."

_Under Orth's jurisdiction!  _Quatre thought, _that's just a coincidence, isn't it?_  He came back to himself, realizing that he had missed something his sister had just said.

" . . . does so much.  That dedication today is really going to be good PR for Winner Enterprises."

"What dedication?"

"Oh, you didn't know?  Everett thinks, we all do, that it's a good idea to help out those that don't have as much.  The company gave a huge sum of money for a police force in one of L2's worst neighborhoods.  They're dedicating it today.  Relena Dorlian is going to be there, along with an important Senator, and Everett is going to give a speech, of course.  It should be on television in a couple of hours."

"Of course he is.  I'll be sure to watch it."

His sister smiled.  "Excellent!  You know you should really make an effort to like him.  After all, he'll soon be family."

Quatre smiled thinly.  "I'll do my best."

Ira looked happy.  "That's all I ask.  I hope school keeps going good for you, bye little brother."

"Bye big sister."

They hung up.  Quatre grimaced and stared at the ceiling_.  Is Heero really going after Everett?  Is it premeditation or accident?  It always seems to come back to that question with Orth, doesn't it?_  Deciding that thinking about questions he had no answers to was pointless for the moment, Quatre pulled out his homework.  _Just because I've got weighty things to mull on doesn't mean that I should completely ignore the mundane tasks._  He had a history paper due on Monday, and so he decided to work on it until it was time for the televised speech.

Several hours later he turned on the TV.  He was early, so he had to suffer through several minutes of the mind numbingly bad soap opera, _Space Hearts_.  Finally, the actress crying over her fiancé's supposed death in a shuttle crash was replaced by Relena's serious face.  

Relena stood on a small stage surrounded by a crowd on all sides.  To one side of her was a Senator that Quatre couldn't quite recall the name of.  On the other side stood Winner Enterprises representative, Everett Orth.  He was a handsome man, immaculately dressed in a gray suit with every black hair in place. 

Relena was smiling regally, looking every inch the queen she once was.  Her speech was beautiful, praising the Winner Corporation's generosity most eloquently.  The camera angle shifted slightly, showing Trowa standing unobtrusively in the background.  _So that's what Une wanted him to do, _Quatre thought, _guard duty for the ex-queen-of-the-world._  Then the Senator did his speech, talking along the same line as Relena, and saying how wonderful it was to finally get some order established on colony L2.  Finally, it was Orth's turn.  He discussed the joy he felt in giving back to the community.  He was as charming as always, but the blond felt sickened by his self-congratulation nevertheless.  _Sometimes I wonder if I really am unfairly biased towards him, seeing duplicity where there isn't any._  

Orth was still giving his speech, when Quatre heard a popping noise over the microphones and Everett Orth suddenly stumbled and fell to the stage floor.  In seconds the area turned from orderly and almost boring to complete and utter chaos.  The anchorwoman was screaming into the camera about shots fired.  The crowd rushed to and fro, shouting hysterically.  Quatre saw Trowa move forward and pull Relena out of camera range, and presumably to safety.  

Quatre had moved to only inches away from his screen without even realizing it.  He stared at the crowd and suddenly gasped in shock.  He leaned forward and searched what he could of the area, looking for a reappearance of what he had thought he had seen.  But the speech site was calming down, order restored by a batch of uniformed Preventers.  The blond could clearly see Everett Orth, pale, but alive, as a doctor tended to the gunshot wound in his shoulder.

Realizing how close he was sitting to the TV Quatre moved back to his chair.  Had he really seen what he had thought he'd seen?  For a second he had glimpsed dark blue eyes and messy chocolate hair.  Heero Yuy.  Had he taken a shot at Orth?

After several minutes had passed Quatre called Une.

It took him two tries but she finally answered.  "What?  Oh, it's you, Quatre."  She sounded harried.  "I suppose you just saw the dedication?"

"Yes, and I think I saw something else.  I thought I saw Heero running through the audience after the shooting."

Une was quiet for a minute.  "We'll have to look at the incident on tape, I'm surprised he let himself get caught on camera.  This means we have a likely suspect."

"Une, I don't think Heero was the gunman."

"Oh?  And why is that?"

"If Heero had shot at Everett Orth he wouldn't have missed."

"Maybe, but then why was he there?"

"I don't know."

"Quatre, thanks for the heads up.  I have work to do now, but I want you to come in tomorrow, you'll be cleared for work then.  Une out."

Quatre sighed in relief.  Finally he could actually do something in this case, though it would still involve waiting a day.  

He spent the next hour talking to various people in his company, seeing how Everett was, and reassuring his sisters.  He might not be in charge yet, but he still had a responsibility.  When he glanced at the clock he realized it was almost time for supper.

Which meant it was time to lie to Eric.  It was a good thing he didn't abide by Duo's motto.

He squared his shoulders and headed out the door to collect his neighbor.  He barely knocked before Eric pulled open the door, he had obviously been waiting.  "Ready?"  Quatre asked.

The other boy nodded shyly and they walked to the restaurant mostly in silence.  When they sat down, and the waiter had taken their orders, the two boys stared at each other awkwardly.  "So . . ." Eric finally began, "you fought in the war.  Why?"

Despite all that had been happening today Quatre had spent some time thinking about what to say.  "I was born in the colonies, on L4, and when I saw how many people the war was effecting I just had to do something."

"Yeah, I know the colony kids had a lot more to deal with than us kids on earth.  Didn't your family object?"

"Yes, especially my father.  He believed very strongly in pacifism."

"Man, he must have had a hard time forgiving you for getting involved then."

Quatre ducked his head and looked away from Eric's understanding eyes.  "He never actually forgave me, he believed in his ideals until the end, in fact, he died for them."

Quatre's eyes focused suddenly on a large man with a bushy mustache who was walking toward their table.  He looked familiar . . .

"I'm sorry," Eric said, "I can't even imagine what I would do if my dad died.  He has strong ideals too.  He's a politician, so he kind of has to have them, you know?"

Quatre's brain abruptly made the connection with an almost audible snap.  The man was a member of Red Thorn.  The Arabian almost hadn't recognized him because he had only seen his picture in the profiles that Une had given him and Duo.  He casually leaned back and took in his surroundings.  Now that he was alert he noticed two more operatives, they all moved like they were packing heat, and they were definitely focused on him.

"Eric," he murmured softly, "get up from your seat and casually walk to the door."

Eric, cut off in mid-sentence, stared at Quatre like the blond had lost his mind.  "What are you talking about, and why the hell are you whispering?"  He said, loudly.

Deciding they were running out of time, Quatre stood up, grabbed the other boy's arm, and hauled him bodily toward the exit.  The terrorists behind them were coming faster now, and Quatre suddenly stopped as the door they had been heading for opened, and in walked a dark haired woman in a long white coat.  Mia Shahar, his brain automatically supplied, Red Thorn's best marksman, not counting Heero Yuy of course.  She saw him looking at her and began to reach into her coat.

Time abruptly slowed.  

Quatre yanked Eric down to the floor, kicking the edge of the nearest table, flipping it on to its side to provide cover.  At the same time he aimed a flying kick at a precariously stacked tray of dinner dishes that a waiter was in the process of transporting.  He sent them barreling at the other terrorists coming at them from behind.  He ducked down, not a moment to soon, as bullets began to mark holes into the sturdy table.

"We want them alive!  Don't shoot, Mia!"  One of the men yelled.

_Them?!  As in both me and Eric?_

The other restaurant patrons were screaming.  The waiter whose tray Quatre had kicked lay prone on the floor, whimpering hysterically.  Quatre grabbed his arm to get his attention.  "Start crawling to the back door, using the tables as cover," he whispered, and when the man didn't move he said more forcefully, "go!  Now!"

            The waiter finally got the message and began snaking his way across the floor.

            Quatre took the still shocked Eric and began to do the same.  The blonde's adrenaline was pumping and his mind was clear.  _My reflexes haven't changed since the war, I get in a combat situation and everything becomes so much more clear._  He was very glad that the tables in this restaurant were pushed close together to conserve space, it provided excellent cover.

            He heard the scuff of a shoe along the linoleum floor.  Quatre pushed the other boy firmly beneath the next table, got to his feet and suddenly lashed out at the terrorist that had been trying to sneak up on him.  He kicked the other man hard in the leg.  His knee popped sickeningly and he crashed to the floor.  

Two other terrorists were on him almost as soon as he completed the move.  He swung a fist at one while pushing a table into the other.  

These men, however, were proficient fighters.  Some of Quatre's jabs were blocked, though several still got through.  Unfortunately, the same could be said for the terrorists.  The blonde got a glancing punch to the jaw and firm kick to his leg that almost folded him.  He still managed to take one down, and was circling around the other, when he heard the unmistakable sound of a gun being cocked.

"Move an inch and I'll shoot your legs out from under you."

Red Thorn's crack shot had joined the fight.

The other terrorist, the one Quatre had been fighting, wiped blood away from his nose as Quatre slowly raised his arms over his head.  "For such a little guy, he packs one mean punch," he said admiringly.

"Then I better take care of him," Mia said.  

Suddenly Quatre felt a blinding pain as her pistol butt impacted with the back of his head, sending him

into darkness.

            **Notes:**  While . . . that is not where I expected that chapter to go at all.  No siree.  But I guess it works.  (Dodges tomatoes thrown for the "ending").  I'll start working on the next chapter as soon as possible.  I've managed to get one out almost everyday!  Good for me.  It's nice that I'm currently unemployed . . . except for the whole money situation and all.  

The action is for Caer, who cursed me (in a nice way) for short cutting the fight scene with the football players.  I hope this makes up for it, at least a little.  Thanks for all the great feedback.  I feel all warm and  toasty . . .

Next chapter the elusive Heero Yuy might finally make an appearance.

I'm having issues with my computer when I upload the document.  A couple paragraphs will lose their indention while most of the others are fine, or some of my lines will be de-italicized.  Why is that happening?!  It's all perfectly lined up when I type it out and save it.  Any ideas?


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:**  Still don't own Gundam Wing.  No money made here, and I really mean it.

**Warnings:  **Some swearing, violence, eventual yaoi in the 1X4 form.

Chapter 5 

It was dark and quiet and peaceful where Quatre was, but it didn't last, something kept intruding, the realization that somebody needed him.  He slowly worked his way back to reality.  

Someone was crying.

Quatre kept still, trying to breath evenly through the sickening pain that suddenly throbbed through his head.  He cautiously cracked his eyes open.  It took a minute for his vision to function properly, and when it did he almost wished that he could return to the blessed ignorance of unconsciousness.

He was in a tiny room constructed almost entirely out of concrete.  The only thing that broke the monotony of the gray was a single bluish, metal door, with no handle on the inside.  The blond was sitting on a chair also made of metal.  His ankles were tied to its legs and his forearms were securely chained behind his back.  It reminded Quatre quite forcefully of the cells that Oz and the Romafeller Foundation had treated him to.  The crying that had led him back from insensibility was coming from his left hand side.  Gingerly, he moved his head to look.

Next to him was another boy.  It took him a moment to recognize him because his glasses were gone and his face was red and puffy from crying, but it was Eric.

Quatre began to open his mouth to speak, but grimaced suddenly as pain radiated from his jaw at the movement.  _Great,_ he thought, _now there isn't a single spot on my head that doesn't ache._  He gingerly tried again, and this time was successful.  "Eric," he croaked.  The other boy didn't hear him through his misery, so he tried again, louder but still hoarse.  "Eric!"

The boy started, and raised his blotchy face.  "Q-Quatre?  You're . . . you're alive? Oh god, I thought they killed you!"  He sobbed out.

The blonde looked his hysterical friend over.  Eric had also been placed on a chair, but Red Thorn had only bothered to tie his hands behind him and to the seat back.  Obviously they had realized Quatre was the greater threat.  If they had tied him like Eric he could have already worked his way free.

"Eric, listen to me, you need to calm down or you're going to hyperventilate," Quatre told the distraught boy.

His classmate seemed to take his words to heart.  The next several minutes were agonizing to watch as Eric tried to stop his tears and slow his breathing.  The Arabian tried to help as much as possible by keeping up a steady litany of hoarse but soothing words.  Finally, after what seemed like hours, the other boy was down to only the occasional hiccupy sob.

"Eric, how did we get here?"

"I-I don't know," (hiccup), "after they, they hurt you, that woman, she shook a gun in my face" (hiccup) "and blindfolded me and took us here."

Quatre grimaced.  _Wonderful, I suppose it would have been too much to hope for that we'd have any clues to our where a bouts, Red Thorn isn't completely stupid, which is a pity._

The two boys sat in silence for several minutes.  Finally Eric, hiccups now under control, began to speak.  "Quatre, who are these people, what do they want from us?  You . . . you knew them didn't you?  I mean back at the restaurant, you saw them and tried to get us away . . . "

The blonde stared at his cellmate.  _There's no reason to lie to him now, it's my fault he's in this mess.  But wait, is it?  They were after us both back there at the restaurant, weren't they?_  Quatre suddenly had another thought.  "Eric, who are you're parents?"

The other boy glared at Quatre with a surprising amount of heat.  "You're just trying to avoid telling me anything!  Don't change the subject," Eric's voice was beginning to rise hysterically again, I have a right to know why I was shot at, kidnapped, and thrown into a cell!"

Quatre interrupted before he could work himself into a fit.  "It's not an idle question Eric!  I'm not trying to change the subject.  This could help me figure out exactly why you're here!"

They stared at each other.  "I'm sorry," Eric said.  "this is just really scary, you know?"  He took a deep breath.  "My mom died when I was five, my dad's been sending me to private boarding schools most of my life, so I don't know him real well.   His name is Nathan Davis."  He said his father's name like it should mean something to Quatre, and it did.  Suddenly everything clicked.

"You're father is a Senator, isn't he?"  The blonde barely waited for Eric to nod before continuing.  "That's why the bad guys were after you, they're going to use you to get your father to do what they want."  Nathan Davis was the Senator whose name Quatre hadn't been able to recall, the one who had been with Everett Orth and Relena Dorlian at the speeches.  Which meant he was a supporter of leaving power in the hands of unregulated companies.  "The people who kidnapped us, they're an anti-corporation group known as Red Thorn.  They've been responsible for two incidents of terrorism at a major company in the last couple of days alone.  I know this because I work for the Preventers," this was probably _technically _true because by now Une should have cleared him for duty, "and I've been working on this case."

"So that's why they abducted you, because you were getting to close on a case?"

"Er, no, I don't think they know that I work for the Preventers.  Eric, my full name is Quatre Raberba Winner.  I'm the son of the man who started Winner Enterprises, I think they want me for the same reason they want you."

The other boy stared at the Arabian in astonishment.  "_You're_ the missing heir to the Winner fortune?!  The one that all those news people have been wondering about on television!"

Quatre shrugged ruefully.  "Yes, unfortunately that's me."

"A Preventer, a missing heir to a fortune . . . you're just full of surprises aren't you?"   

Quatre just hoped he wouldn't have to share any more 'surprises.'

The loud screech of metal forestalled anything else they might have said to one another.  The door to their cell swung open, and in walked three members of Red Thorn.  He only recognized one from the restaurant, the man that he had been fighting with right before being knocked out.  The other two he identified from the data files.  The first was the group's newest member, the sandy-haired Todd Byers.  He was considered to be the weak link, to soft to really be suited for the work of a terrorist.  The second was a bit more worrisome.  Rai Setsuna, the original leader of the group.  By all accounts he was a fanatical badass, no one at the Preventers had known how Heero had overthrown him.  

Rai ignored Eric and moved so that he stood looming over the blonde.  "Quatre Winner," he murmured, dark eyes cold and gleaming.  "The little prince, heir to the company your father built on his bottomless greed."

The boy stiffened, overcome with a strong sense of déjà vu as he remembered the accusations made before his father's death.  "My father never hesitated to share what he made, if not for him L4 wouldn't be what it is today."

Quatre's head snapped back from the impact of the dark eyed man's slap.

Setsuna knelt down so that he was eye level to Quatre's pain filled gaze.  "Little princeling, you caused my men a great deal of trouble.  I'm curious, how did you spot them?"

"It wasn't hard," he began, matching the arrogance in the other's tone, "their coats flapped around like they were in a strong wind.  I saw the guns."

Setsuna turned and glared at his men.  "Careless," he hissed.  He turned back to Quatre and stared at him, his expression oddly bemused.  The man lifted his hand and stroked the bruise just beginning to purple on the side of the small blonde's jaw.  "You're a difficult young man to find, my little prince," Rai purred.  "But not difficult enough, for your sake.  You should have used a different name for your school."

"I wasn't trying to hide."

"Oh, but you were."  The fanatical gleam returned to his dark eyes.  "All those like you hide.  You hide behind your money, and your power.  Behind your sophisticated, responsible, corporate facade.  You shroud yourself in a cloak of respectability, and only I see what lies inside, only I see the rottenness that consumes so many in the name of profit."

Quatre stared at him.  He really was a fanatic, and like most fanatics he was clearly insane enough to hear only what he wanted and ignore the rest.  It would be pointless to try and reason with him.  Quatre risked glancing away from the madman to look at the other terrorists.  They both looked uneasy with their former leader's ravings. 

Setsuna finally snapped out of his rant, and strode out of the cell, but not without throwing orders behind him.  "Byers, watch them.  Wouldn't do for anything to happen to them until they've served their purpose, now would it?"  He looked directly at Quatre when he said this.  Clearly, something would be 'happening' to him soon, and it would be by the dark-eyed man's own hand.  

The other terrorist lingered behind.  "Keep an eye on that one," he said, pointing at the bound blonde.  "He's dangerous."

"This kid is dangerous?"  Byers asked in disbelief.  He looked Quatre over while the blonde did his best to look harmless, which really wasn't a difficult task under the circumstances.

"He may not look like much but don't be fooled."  He hesitated, clearly not wanting to leave the other on guard duty alone.

"Go, I think I can handle two schoolboys by myself, I do have a gun."  He waved it around carelessly to emphasize his point.  His actions didn't seem to reassure the other man, but finally, he reluctantly left anyway.

Their guard moved himself to the doorway.  Quatre turned to look into Eric's frightened eyes.  "What's going to happen to us?"  Eric whispered.  "That man is off his rocker."

"Everything will be alright," the ex-pilot whispered back.  The two boys sat in silence then, each aware of their unwanted audience who would occasionally glance at them.  Quatre began to sag deliberately on his chair, head drooping forward to rest on his chest.  His eyelids fluttered closed, pale lashes resting on his cheeks.  His breathing began to change, becoming stilted and labored, every breath of air being worked for.  The glances their guard sent him became laced with concern.

"Quatre, are you okay?"  Eric asked, worried.

The blonde stirred, lifting his head weakly to squint blurrily at his friend.  "Yeah, I'm just tired," he murmured.  He hated to deceive the other boy and cause him concern, but if he acted in any way to reassure him Byers would see it.  He needed to appear weak and harmless and injured to garner sympathy from the terrorist.  This was the perfect opportunity to exploit the weak link.

He continued like this for almost ten minutes.  Finally, he shifted uncomfortably on the chair and looked up at the guard.  "Excuse me," Quatre made his voice a thin thread of sound.  "I need to go to the bathroom."

Byers looked at the fragile and bruised blonde, and shook his head.  "I don't think I'm allowed to bring you to one."

Quatre looked up at him with desperate eyes, the bruises bringing out their blue.  "Please."

It was one of the oldest tricks in the book, but it worked.  Todd Byers got up from his spot from the door and undid the ties at the ex-pilots legs.  But before completely freeing him he snapped a pair of handcuffs around the thin wrists.  Then the young terrorist stepped out of Quatre's reach.  He held his gun pointed at the blonde, and made no move to help the boy as he struggled laboriously to his feet.  _He's not completely stupid, but hopefully still dumb enough for my purposes,_ Quatre thought.

He wobbled to the door in front of Byers, still exaggerating his hurts.  To his frustration the man continued to keep a cautious distance between them.  Eric watched them step through the doorway with concerned eyes.

The hallway outside the cell was just as gray and drab as the room they had left behind.  Somebody had either gotten a good deal on concrete, or more likely, hadn't been overly concerned with the comforts of the 'guests' who would be housed on this floor.  They traveled through the hallway to an elevator, which they rode up a floor.  Once there it was a right and then a left to get to the windowless little bathroom that he was to use.  Byers didn't close the door all the way as Quatre took care of business.  The blonde only stayed in there for two minutes, not long enough for the terrorist to began to feel any alarm.  When Quatre came out the man was beginning to lose some of his caution, he wasn't keeping quite as much distance between them.  After all, so far the boy had been a model prisoner.  

The blonde walked several steps away from the bathroom, and then suddenly stumbled over his own feet.  Byers automatically reached out to keep him from going down.

The ex-pilot straightened, abruptly jabbing Byers in the stomach with a well-placed elbow.  As the breathe left his body in a pained gasp, Quatre whirled and kicked the gun out of his hand, foot continuing to travel in an upwards arc to bean him in the head.

The terrorist fell to the ground, unconscious.

Quatre squatted on his heels, facing away from the senseless man as he felt around in his clothes with his bound hands.  He almost crowed in triumph as he pulled the handcuff keys out of a shirt pocket.  

Mere seconds later the handcuffs were off.  The blonde dropped both keys and cuffs on Byers chest.  "I'm sorry I had to do this," Quatre murmured to him, "you're a kind man."  He snagged the gun off the floor and began to move down the hallway, intending to go back to the cell for Eric.

He had nearly made it back to the elevator when he heard a shout.  "Hey you, stop right there!"  A man had turned the corner from the other end of the hallway.  Quatre lifted his gun to fire and the man swore and dove back around the corner before he had a chance to squeeze off a round.

An alarm began to blare, gray walls painted red by the strobe light.  

Quatre ducked through the nearest doorway as bullets whistled through the air.  The terrorist panicked and used up his entire cartridge on the wall.  The blonde waited until he heard the clip click empty, then he moved back into the hallway, sighted, and fired, hitting the man in the leg.

He hurried to the elevator and pushed the button, then cursed as he realized it wasn't working.  Somebody had shut off the power to it.  He tried to ignore the uneasy feeling growing within his chest.  He headed past the injured terrorist to look for an alternate route.

He moved quickly through the halls, the alarm adding urgency to his steps, only slowing and proceeding with caution when he came to a corner.  He noticed a door ahead marked fire exit.  _That will have stairs leading down, and I don't need to worry about setting off another alarm._  He hurried toward it, passing a slightly ajar doorway as he did so.  He only noticed it subconsciously, so intent was he on getting to the stairs.

His distraction proved to be an important mistake.

Somebody slammed into him from behind, knocking his gun out of his hand and sending it skidding across the hard floor to land against the stairwell door.

Quatre quickly rolled away, just managing to get to his feet before his assailant was on him again.  He kicked back, hoping to break a kneecap and disable his opponent, but the blow was blocked.  This person moved with incredible speed.  Quatre suddenly found himself slammed against the wall, strong arms restraining his upper body in an unbreakable hold.  Even though he was trapped between two unmovable objects, the blond continued to struggle uselessly.  He felt a gun poke him beneath his chin.  

"Stop moving," a masculine voice said into his ear.

Quatre stilled.  He knew that voice.

Slowly, almost reluctantly, the arm moved away from his body.  The gun trailed around his neck from the front to the back, and the feverishly warm body pressing into him stepped away.

Quatre turned around to face his assailant, careful to make no sudden moves.  The first thing he saw was the gun, the barrel centimeters away from his face.  He then focused his eyes to see the hand holding it, and then they traveled up the wrist, along the arm, over the shoulder, and past the neck to finally settle on the person's face.

Dark blue eyes.

Perpetually messy brown hair.

Heero Yuy. 

**Notes:**  I'm sorry that this chapter took me so much longer to complete than the others, but I had to fulfill my social obligations.  Stupid Real Life.  I'm also hoping that it sounds okay, because I wrote it while floating in a haze of allergy medication, the kind that makes me really drowsy.  Stupid seasonal allergies.

Once again this chapter didn't go where I expected it too.  I have no idea where Rai Setsuna came from, but I sure don't like him.  First Orth, now this guy.  I really don't know why I keep putting complete bastards in my story.  Also, I realize I'm being mean with the cliff-hangers, but it just begged to be ended here.  It least Heero finally made an appearance.  

Thanks once again to all my reviewers.  You guys are great!  And no Silver Shinigami, you're not sheltered.  There just isn't a lot of Quatre-action on ff.net. . . sigh.

Next chapter:  Heero finally answers some questions.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer**:  Don't own, don't sue.  No money made here.

**Warnings:**  Some swearing, violence, a very bad man tries to do a very bad thing; attempted rape.  Eventual yaoi of the 1X4 kind.

Chapter 6 

Heero Yuy.

Quatre had spent the last couple of days wanting to talk to him, and now here he was, standing right in front of him, and all the blonde could do was stand frozen and stare.

Of course, Heero was pointing a gun at him.

Footsteps rang in the hallway as another person turned the corner and stopped several feet away from the motionless boys.  Quatre kept his eyes locked on Heero, but a flash of white out of the corner of his eye let him know who was there.

"You caught him," Mia said.  She stepped into the blonde's line of sight.  Her gun was out.  "He took down both Byers and Park, but they're still alive.  Byers was knocked out and Park has a gunshot wound to the leg."

The other boy merely grunted in reply, seemingly unconcerned with the fates of his fellows.  Finally, he spoke, eyes still not leaving Quatre's face.  "I'm escorting him back to the cell.  Bring the others to meet us, Rai made a consequential error when he acted without me.  I will inform him of that fact."  Yuy was obviously not pleased. 

Mia nodded once sharply and turned on her heel to do as ordered.

"Move," Heero gestured with his gun in the direction he wanted his fellow ex-gundam pilot to go.  Quatre turned and went without any argument.  As they walked the Arabian finally found his voice.  "Heero, what's going on?  Why are you with these people?"

There was no reply from behind him and Quatre sighed with frustration.  "Will you at least tell me where we are?"

This time the other boy replied, but only with minimal information.  "An old abandoned Oz base."

_Well.  That explains the concrete cell, and that nice feeling of familiarity_, he thought.  Sooner then he would have liked they reached said concrete cell.  Two terrorists were already there, stationed one on either side of Eric.  Their hostage looked terrified.

In minutes Heero had Quatre shoved onto his chair and tied back up.  Just as he was finishing securing the last knot Mia came in with two others in tow.  One was Todd Byers, who had a spectacular bruise developing on his forehead from Quatre's kick.

Heero straightened and looked at them.  "Where's Rai?"  

"I couldn't find him.  I think he may have left the base."  Heero's expression didn't change, but Mia took a step back anyway, afraid he would kill the messenger.  Literally.

"Fine.  I'll have to talk to him later."  His monotone voice put no special emphasis on the word 'talk,' but everyone in the room knew he meant to do something a great deal more violent.

Heero's searing gaze moved over the five terrorists present, but he said nothing.  Finally, Byers broke.  "I'm sorry," he began to babble, "I let him get the drop on me, he said he had to go to the bathroom!  I swear it'll never happen again!"

The brown haired boy looked at him, expression unreadable.  "You should not have been put in charge of guarding him."  He looked at Mia.  "I suppose Setsuna authorized that too?"

She nodded mutely.

"His second mistake."

One of the other men hesitantly spoke up.  "Sir, if that was his second, what was his first?"

"Kidnapping Quatre Winner."

Mia, assured that he wasn't going to kill her just yet, looked at him shrewdly.  "This isn't just because he did the abductions behind your back, is it?"

"He brought a gundam pilot into our base of operations."

They stared at him shocked.  Out of the corner of his eye, Quatre saw Eric's pale face turn and look at him in astonishment.

"He was one of your compatriots?"  Mia said, stunned.

"The strategist of the group.  He directed us in battle."  Heero turned his emotionless face to once again regard the blonde.  "If I hadn't gotten back when I did he would have incapacitated Red Thorn."  

Quatre returned his gaze, his eyes sad.  "I never led you, Heero.  You did whatever you needed to do on your own.  If anything, you were the one who led me," he said softly.

"So what do we do with him?"  Mia asked.  Her hand had reached inside her coat, making it abundantly clear what she thought should be done.

"For now he stays in this cell with a guard outside.  No one is to remove the restraints.  Move the other kid to a different location.  Quatre won't leave without him."

As two of the terrorists moved to transport Eric, chair and all, to a different location, he began to struggle in a panic.  "Get your hands off me.  Quatre, no!  Don't let them take me away!  Help, please!"

Quatre broke his staring contest with Heero.  "Eric, everything will be alright, I'll come for you.  I swear it!"  He yelled out into the hall as they carried the hysterical boy away.

Heero said nothing to Quatre's promise.  He merely watched the drama unfold, apparently unmoved. 

The blonde returned his bewildered gaze to the other pilot.  "Why, Heero?  Why are you doing this?"  

The other boy locked eyes with him one more time.  Then he walked out of the door, preceded by the rest of Red Thorn.  

The metal door clanged shut behind him.

Quatre shut his eyes to the empty cell.  His head still throbbed with pain, but his heart hurt more.

It appeared that Heero had really betrayed him.

Quatre sat in the gray darkness of the cell, feeling smothered by the walls, and weighed down by his emotions.  He didn't know how long he remained still, how many hours had passed, but if felt like forever.

Then the door creaked open.

The Arabian looked up, feeling a sudden flare of hope, but it was gone just as suddenly, as he saw who had entered into his prison.  It was Rai Setsuna.

The dark-eyed man stalked to him, and then knelt on the floor in front of the blonde.  "My little princeling," he murmured, voice frighteningly soft and intimate, "I hear some interesting things.  I hear that little prince can wield a sword and hasn't always remained in hiding."  He reached forward and tenderly smoothed his blond hair.  Quatre could feel goose bumps break out on the back of his neck at the disturbing touch.

"Pretty little princeling.  There's no where to hide now, here you have no money, no power, no subordinates to jump at your every gentle whim."  Rai grinned suddenly, appearing shark-like in the dim light.  "Here, _I_ have all those things."  He leaned forward abruptly, grabbing Quatre's bound arms in a hard grip; the blonde could almost feel finger shaped bruises taking shape.  The chair scraped forward across the hard floor as Rai pulled Quatre closer, mouth leeching onto his.

The blonde made a muffled sound of mixed panic and outrage, and then he bit down, hard.  Setsuna pulled away with a curse.  Quatre could see a perfect bloody imprint of his teeth on the man's bottom lip.  The dark-eyed man touched the tip of his finger to the wound and then held it in front of his face, staring at the crimson liquid with curiosity.  He did not look angry, but the pleasant expression he wore was actually scarier than rage would have been.  He shook his head and sighed.  "Little prince shows his true nature at last.  No insignificant minions around to save him, no huge gundam either, so he becomes a desperate, cornered, animal."  Rai smiled.  "I like it."

He backhanded the immobilized boy across the face, splitting his lip.  Out of his boot he drew a long, wicked looking knife.  He held it to the collar of his captive's shirt.  "Don't move now," he whispered, "I wouldn't want to slip and cut my little prince's pretty skin."  He drew the knife over the cloth, popping the buttons.  Quatre hissed in pain as Rai's dagger did end up slicing skin with cloth.  He leaned back to admire his handiwork.  The shallow cut down the blonde's torso bled profusely.  He then ripped the ruined shirt away.

Quatre began to struggle frantically against his restraints, to desperate to care that the skin on his wrists and ankles was getting rubbed raw.  He tried to head butt Rai when he began to get close again, but the man merely leaned back, and then hit him.  This time it was hard enough to make the blonde go limp.  The dark-eyed man claimed his lips again savagely, rubbing their blood together.  His hand reached down and began to unbutton the stunned boy's pants. 

Suddenly Rai was pulled away from Quatre.  The Arabian opened his eyes woozily in time to hear the sickening sound of a bone being broken.

Heero Yuy had come back.

Neither of them had heard him come in.  He had torn Setsuna away and then twisted the arm with the knife, breaking it.  Heero ignored the dark-eyed man's cry of pain, and then punched him viciously in the face, with enough force to send him reeling into the concrete wall.  Quatre heard a small gasp and turned his head to gaze blearily at the door.  Mia Shahar stood there, her gun in her hand, a horrified look on her face as she took in the scene before her.

Quatre couldn't tell if she was upset with the beating, or with what had almost happened to him.

Soon he had his answer.  Heero was just moving in for another blow when a shot sounded through the little cell.  At first, Quatre couldn't tell what had happened.  Both figures had come to a halt and were standing still.  Suddenly the dark-eyed man began to topple over.  

He landed on his back; a perfectly round bullet wound leaking blood, and other things, from between his eyes.

Quatre blinked up at Heero as he realized the other boy was standing over him, Setsuna's knife held in his hand.  He bent down and began cutting the ropes from the blonde's ankles.  When he reached the chains around Quatre's arms, he turned toward Mia.

"I need the keys."

Mia's eyes were blank and glassy and she was murmuring to herself frantically.  Quatre thought she was saying something about "almost happened again."

"Mia!"  Heero said louder.  She finally turned and looked at him.  "Keys."  She blinked and then reached in her coat, pulled them out, and tossed them to him.

He caught them deftly and finished unlocking the restraints.  Heero bent down and scooped the blonde into his arms, heading toward the door.  Quatre felt dizzy, the sudden movement jarring his head.  All he could do was cling to Heero and try not to throw up on him.

He was feeling so awful that he missed most of the trip through the building.  Before he knew it, Heero was opening a door and they were heading into another room.  There was a big bed in the center, a little table pushed up beside it.  On the table was a gun.  _Heero's room,_ Quatre thought immediately.

The blonde was gently sat on the bed.  The other boy went into another door and then came back out mere seconds later with his arms full.  _Must be a bathroom._  The Arabian boy flinched as Heero shone a penlight into his eyes.  "You have a concussion," he stated after staring measuringly at the other pilot's pupils.  He picked through his pile and pulled out bandages and disinfectant and gentling began to dress Quatre's wounds.

Despite Heero's careful handling it hurt, but the blonde didn't make a sound.  Soon, even with the pain, his eyelids began to drift shut.  He was roused with a hard shake.  "Quatre, you can't go unconscious yet.  Let me just finish bandaging you and then you can go to sleep.  I'll wake you every hour, you shouldn't sleep a long time with a concussion."

He felt fuzzy, and had a hard time processing Heero's words.  After deciding they did indeed make sense, he nodded, and immediately felt sorry he had when bile rose up the back of his throat.  He swallowed frantically until he got himself under control.

Finally Heero finished bandaging him.  He picked Quatre up, being careful of his head, and settled him under the covers.  The blonde looked up at him.  Heero looked bleary around the edges, and was getting more indistinct by the moment.  

The last thing Quatre was aware of before falling into unconsciousness was the shift of the bed as someone settled next to him.

**Notes:  **Man I'm a bitch.  I had poor Quatre knocked so many times in the head . . . no wonder he has a concussion.  Oh well, my sneaky little way to get them into bed together, (of course, nothings going to happen, our boy is unconscious for god's sake.)  I was almost really mean and made this a short chapter by stopping it right after Heero left the cell.  But I just couldn't let people think Heero was a complete jackass.  Oh, and I kind of lied last chapter in my notes.  (Dodges tomatoes from rightly outraged readers). No answers here, but I swear that the next chapter the boys will have a nice long talk and we'll finally figure out what the heck is going on.  

I've also been receiving a lot of compliments from people who like Quatre portrayed as a strong, kick-ass character.  If your looking for a good set of Quatre-centric stories there's some over at Gundam Wing Addiction, written by Laekin.  They are awesome.  For those of you who haven't already read this stuff its called the Companions of Fate Arc and it's a fantastic mixture of both humor, drama, and smut.  It's got the standard pairings, but is still great.  If you want to go right to it here's the address:  www.geocities.com/fenris_wolf0/.

Once again I have to thank my reviewers.  You people are great!  Also, thanks to Diane for those really comprehensive reviews.  I'm glad to know that I'm making enough sense that you were able to catch on to some stuff.  I really love the attention, so anyone can feel free to e-mail me if they want to chat about anything.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: ** Still don't own them (pity).  I receive no monetary compensation off this whatsoever.

**Warning:** Mild swearing, violence, yaoi of the 1X4 variety, right now in the form of, um, sexual situations.

Chapter 7 

Quatre opened his eyes and shut them just as quickly as little purple spots danced across his vision.  Very cautiously he tried again, peeking through one, and then the other.  His vision seemed back to normal as he stared at an unfamiliar ceiling.  It was white and smooth.  The ceiling at home was light blue, the one at his dorm was rough and cream colored.  So where was he?

Memory suddenly came back to him with the jangled crash of out of tune violin music.

The cell.  Eric.  Red Thorn.  Rai Setsuna and the hole in his head.  The fact that he was inside Heero Yuy's bedroom.

Sleeping in his bed.

Quatre sat up very quickly and then groaned and held his head in his hands.  _Okay, now I know, fast movements are a Very Bad Idea.  Head injuries are never fun._  He slowly lifted his head and looked around.

Heero Yuy did not appear to be any where in the room.  But when Quatre glanced at the other side of the bed, he noticed that the blankets had that particularly rumpled look that can only be achieved by another human being.  _I slept with Heero Yuy.  Not that that's a particularly terrible thought, but still . . .by Allah._ The blonde kicked the blankets off and glanced down at himself.  The only thing he was wearing was a pair of boxers.  _Okay, so he undressed me.  It least he left my underwear on.  Crap, these are my boxers, right!?_  He studied them carefully.  Yep.  Navy blue silk with a black square pattern, he vaguely remembered putting them on, was it yesterday, or the day before?  _Time sure flies when your unconscious, _he tried to ignore the slightly hysterical edge his thoughts were acquiring._  How ridiculous is this?  I survive being kidnapped, beaten, and almost raped, and still manage to keep my calm.  But put me in Heero Yuy's bed and my thought processes get shot to hell._

Quatre very carefully moved his way to the edge of the bed, which for some reason seemed grotesquely huge, trying not to move his head more than absolutely necessary.  Concussions hurt like a son of a bitch.  He dangled his feet over the floor and then very slowly touched them down.  He grabbed on to the bed's frame and managed to hoist himself into a standing position.  _Success!_  He crowed to himself, but thought it quietly in respect for the little men drumming a funeral dirge inside his skull.

The blonde seemed to remember that Heero had come out of a bathroom last night with medical supplies, and he looked for the door that led to it.  _In fact, he did more than just patch me up last night, didn't he?_  Quatre had a vague memory of being woken often so that Heero could check on his concussion and make sure he didn't slip into a fatal sleep.  _What does that mean?  Does it mean he didn't betray us?  Okay, time to review.  I know that Heero didn't order the kidnapping of Eric and I.  Setsuna did that._  Quatre subconsciously shied away from the memories associated with the dark-eyed man.  _He didn't hurt me at all, but he refused to tell me anything about why he's with Red Thorn, and he certainly didn't offer to let me go.  And Mia clearly thought killing me would be the easiest way to get rid of the problem I represent, but Heero didn't even acknowledge that possibility.  Of course, he also took Eric away somewhere.  Poor kid.  I'm sure he's scared, and now he's confused too because he found out I was a gundam pilot.  I can't let Heero use Eric as a pawn against his Senator father, and me against Winner Enterprises, if that's what he plans on doing.  Is Heero really a threat to us or not?_    

Quatre let out a breath in annoyance.  The only person who could answer these questions was Heero Yuy himself.  The blonde continued on his very slow quest to get to the bathroom.  He had to concentrate really hard on putting one foot in front of the other.  He was dizzy and his equilibrium was off.

When he made it to the bathroom he was quite impressed.  It was very luxurious, with a large, white, tiled tub and a separate shower stall.  There was a huge vanity mirror in front of the counter with the sinks.  Quatre moved to them so that he would have something to hold onto.  He looked down at the gold faucets in bemusement.  _Somehow, this doesn't fit my image of Heero.  It's way to grandiose and frivolous for him, this after all is the boy who was quite happy in just a green tank top and shorts for most of the war.  It does how ever, fit my image of an Oz officer.  He wasn't lying about what this place used to be._

Quatre's gaze suddenly fell on a thick blue robe hanging beyond the shower.  He wasn't terribly comfortable walking around in his almost-all-together when anybody could just come in.  An image of Rai rose into his thoughts and the blonde couldn't help but shudder.  Using the wall for support he worked his way over to the robe, took it down, and put it on, tying it as securely as it would go.  It was too big for him and had an unfortunate tendency to slip off one shoulder.

The ex-pilot glanced longingly at the shower.  He felt disgusting, both inside and out.  A shower would be heavenly, but the same reason still applied for wearing the robe.  Plus, he had a bad feeling that he'd slip and crack open his skull.  He really wanted to avoid any more head injuries.

There were other alternatives, however.  Quatre snooped in a mahogany cupboard inlaid with gold and pulled out a washcloth and a towel.  The blonde desperately wanted to get the dried blood off his skin.  He wet the washcloth and picked up a bar of soap that smelled weirdly like pears.  He shrugged, deciding at this point he didn't particularly care what kind of soap he used, and started scrubbing.

The blue robe was untied and slipping off his shoulder as he washed the area around the cut on his chest.  

That's when Heero came in.

The blonde saw him out of the corner of his eye and whirled around quickly, startled.  But he moved to fast for his messed up balance to handle and instead tripped and began to fall to the floor.

Heero dove forward, cat-quick, and caught the concussed blonde before he could finish his self-prophecy of cracking his head on the linoleum.  The way they landed was not as smooth.

When the torrent of pain finished spinning in the Arabian's head he realized that he was laying with his head in Heero's lap, face down.  He made a muffled sound, a combination of panic and embarrassment, and tried to yank his forehead away from its very interesting resting place.  Heero grabbed his shoulders to keep him from swirling his brains around any more, slowing his movement and incidentally grabbing onto both of Quatre's now bare shoulders.  In all the excitement the robe had decided to puddle at his feet instead of covering him decently.  

Both boys froze and stared at each other, with equally wide eyes.  Quatre knew he was blushing, he could feel the fair skin of his face getting hot, but he was terribly stunned to see Heero Yuy, _Heero Yuy_, begin to develop spots of pink on his cheeks.

Heero cleared his throat, and averted his eyes from the blonde abruptly.  He stood back up slowly, bringing the other boy with him.  "I'll just . . . I mean I'll . . . I'll be in the other room until you're done in here," the cobalt-eyed boy sounded flustered, and backed out of the doorway.  Quatre was quite sure that he saw Heero stare at his soapy chest before slamming the door behind him.

Quatre stood in the middle of the bathroom, cheeks flaming.  _What, by Allah, just happened?  Did Heero check me out?  No, that's a ridiculous thought, and it sounds like something Duo would say._  The blonde knelt down and retrieved the robe off of the floor.  He moved back to the sink and washed the soap off his chest.  He met his own eyes in the mirror.  They looked as confused as he felt, and he was still blushing.  He hid in the bathroom until his skin returned to its usual color.  Then, making sure that the robe was secured as much as it was possible to secure something two sizes to big for him, he slowly emerged into the bedroom.

Heero sat on the one chair in the room, cleaning his gun.  He looked up and met Quatre's eyes, earlier embarrassment gone like it had never been; his gaze was clear and unreadable.

The perfect soldier had moved back behind his mask.

Quatre broke eye contact first.  He moved toward the bed.  With Heero occupying the chair it was the only other place to sit in the room, and the blonde wasn't quite sure that his legs would hold him if he opted to stand.

He perched carefully on the edge, making sure his feet were firmly on the floor before looking up at the other boy again.  Heero had watched him make his careful way to the bed, gaze never wavering, so when he looked up their eyes locked again.  "So," Quatre began, "are you finally going to tell me what's happening?"

"I don't know if I can trust you."

Quatre's eyebrows raised clear up into his hair.  "You, don't think you can trust, _me_?  Who kidnapped who Heero?"

The dark-haired boy just looked at him.

The blonde decided to take a different tact.  "You know Heero, I am at your mercy, if you tell me what's happening it's not like I can scamper off and share the information with any one else." 

The logic made sense.  Heero finally nodded his head.  "True, ask your questions."

"What are you really doing with Red Thorn?"

"I'm using them to stop an unscrupulous company."

Quatre stared at him intently.  "So you do believe in their goals?  You believe that corporations are an evil that's destroying life as we know it?"

"No, not all corporations, just one."

"Which one, Heero," the blonde demanded.

The other boy looked at him intently.  "Think Quatre, I thought you were smart.  What have I been targeting?"

"Winner Enterprises . . . but, why?"

"Because your company is trying to destroy peace.  Some of its branches are producing illegal weaponry, mobile suits, and even developing drugs to make people better killers."

Quatre was shocked.  "Are you sure?  You must be mistaken.  My sisters and some of my father's partners are working on keeping Winner Enterprises running, they wouldn't support this . . .

Heero interrupted him.  "I've seen some of these places myself Quatre.  Hell, they even used to supply Red Thorn with weapons."  His face hardened almost imperceptibly.  "And they hired men to assassinate Relena.  They did it in order to create an atmosphere of fear and suspicion, all so that they could make the market better for their weapons.  They almost succeeded."

"Are you telling me the shot that hit Everett Orth was meant for Relena?"

He nodded.  "I almost didn't get there in time.  All I could do was make the bullet go wide."

_So I was right._  "Heero, why didn't you go to the Preventers?  This is the kind of thing they're there for, to protect peace."

"The Preventers have been compromised.  The very same people who are making weapons are giving funding to the people who should be trying to stop them."

It made an awful kind of sense.  The puzzle pieces in his head finally began to fit together.  _The new Preventer offices.  Winner Enterprises made an open donation to start a police force for L2 just a couple of days before.  What if some higher up is funding the world's largest peace keeping force, but doing it behind the scenes?  Some higher up?  What am I talking about, I already know its Orth!  _Quatre couldn't help but remember the conversation he had with Ira after the bombings.  _Orth was in charge of those buildings that Heero destroyed, and he has my family pretty much wrapped around his finger.  The way she talked about him, it sounded like he was practically running the company by himself!_

Something else suddenly occurred to the blonde.  "Heero, even with the Preventer force itself being compromised, you could have come to the individuals.  If there's corruption there, don't you think Duo, Wufei, Sally, Une, and Trowa should know about it?  They would have gladly helped you, you didn't need Red Thorn at all!"

"No, Quatre your wrong.  Going to them would have been the biggest mistake I could possibly make."

"What are you talking about?"

"One of them is a traitor."

**Notes:**  Well, another development.  I just can't seem to leave it alone.

Well reviewers, thanks oodles again for your praise!  Your flattery is what motivated me to get this chapter out so fast.  Oh, and Kasra, I'm glad you don't think its to contrived, because frankly I've been worried.  I know most writers tell you to plan out your story first, but this fic just won't let me do that.  Sometimes _I_ don't even know what's going to happen next.  I swear to god it writes itself.  Maybe little elves come out at night and dance on my keyboard .  . .

Next chapter:  More answers spawn new questions.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: ** Still don't own them (and it's _still_ a pity).  I receive no monetary compensation off this whatsoever.

**Warning:**  Violence, yaoi (1X4), and swearing.

Chapter 8 

Quatre stared at Heero, aqua eyes wide.  "A traitor?  What in Allah's name are you talking about?"

The dark-haired boy's gaze was level.  "Someone under Une's direct jurisdiction, or the Lady herself, has been working closely with W.E.  Specifically with those branches that are involved in illegal dealings."

"That's insane!  None of our friends is a traitor!  Where did you get this idea?"

"Believe me, Quatre, I didn't want to believe it, but there's proof.  Of course, it still might not be Duo, Trowa, Wufei, Sally or Une.  I have another more likely suspect."  Heero's eyes had gone cold and unreadable.  "You."

Quatre was momentarily shocked speechless.

"Not only is Winner Enterprises your company, but you're a Preventer under Lady Une, and nobody would suspect you of double dealing.  They all trust you."

"Everyone but you apparently," the blonde said softly.  "But you're overlooking some fairly pertinent information, Heero.  I don't technically own W.E. until the day of my twenty-first birthday.  _And_ I wasn't a Preventer until after I was told that you were leading Red Thorn.  Damn it, Heero, Une didn't even clear me for active duty until yesterday!  Before that I was spending my time quite contently in school!

"Just because you aren't actively running W.E. doesn't mean that you are completely without clout as Master Winner.  You also still have plenty of influence over the others, even if you're not working directly with them."  Heero turned so that he was looking out the window instead of at Quatre.  "Just last week you had lunch with Duo.  You're still an integral part of their lives, and I know you often discuss Preventer business." 

"How do you know that?"

"I still make a point of keeping an eye on you . . . and the others."

"I swear to you, Heero, I had no knowledge of any of the things going on at W.E."  _Though Allah knows I certainly should have kept better tabs on my father's company.  I can't believe I was so stupid, in my search for normality I completely ignored my own responsibilities!_

"At this point I can't afford to believe you."  Heero suddenly turned from the window.  A gun was in his hand and pointed unwaveringly at the blonde.  "Having you here is a detriment to my mission.  The prudent thing would be to kill you."

His finger was on the trigger, but minutes passed and he still did not squeeze it.

Quatre looked at him, and then at the unfired gun.  His soul ached for the lonely boy in front of him.  "Do you know why you haven't fired, yet, Heero?  Because, on some level, you do trust me.  You know in your heart that I would never betray you."

Heero looked at him, blue eyes searching.  "No Quatre, my heart is sure of no such thing."  He lowered the weapon to his side.  "But I can't do it if I'm not one hundred percent certain.  I won't make another mistake.  Not like the one I made when I killed the peace-minded leaders of the Alliance."

The blonde lowered his head, hand unconsciously massaging his chest, right over his heart.  He sighed and then glanced up again.  "It's not me," he said again, "but I think I know who is spearheading this.  Everett Orth."

Heero nodded slowly.  "I know he's involved, but I'm not sure if he's in charge."  His tone clearly said that _that _person could still be Quatre.  The perfect soldier got up and pulled his laptop out of a black case.  "Here's most of the data that I've collected on Orth so far," he pulled out a red disk and inserted it into the computer.  "I hacked into his home system a couple of days ago, he doesn't keep anything really incriminating electronically.  The important documents he keeps on hard copy."

"Hardcopy?  Everything's computerized, barely anybody keeps things on paper anymore."

"He's paranoid, and smart with it.  He knows that there are people like me out there."  Heero hesitated, clearly mulling something over.  Abruptly, he came to a decision.  "Quatre there is a way that you can prove yourself to me."  The blonde looked up, his face hopeful.  "Get those files for me."

"How?"

"In four days Orth and your sister have an engagement party planned.  It's taking place at Everett Orth's estate.  On the news, with you missing, there has been talk of canceling it.  But if you reappear, it can go on as intended.  You're almost family to him, you shouldn't have to much trouble finding those papers and smuggling them out."

Quatre grimaced at the thought of being family to that slimy bastard Orth.  Heero noticed and raised an eyebrow.  "Family in name only," Quatre said.  "But how am I supposed to just reappear?  There will be questions . . ."

"We'll stage a rescue." 

The blonde chewed his bottom lip absently, deep in thought, not noticing the attention the other boy was paying to the action.  "That would work," he said thoughtfully, "but Heero, if I'm going to do this you have to do something for me.  Let Eric Davis go."

The other boy frowned, attention pulled back to their conversation.  "I'm not letting you both go."

"Why not?  Are you really going to use him to blackmail his father?"

"I might have to, and if you are the traitor, I'll still have something you want."

"So he's to be a hostage for my good behavior?"

"Yes."

"You can't hurt him Heero, he's an innocent in all this.  Eric's never gone to war.  He's never killed or dealt with people like us before!  He doesn't belong in this world."

"But you brought him into it Quatre, whether you meant to or not.  Now he's part of it, and I'll do whatever I have to do to complete my objectives."

The blonde lifted his chin.  "And I'll do whatever I have to in order to keep him safe."

"Fine."  Heero sat the laptop on the bed.  "You aren't any use to me until you've had time to heal.  Rest.  On the disk is information on Orth and his estate.  There are blueprints of the house that you should commit to memory, I've highlighted likely places for the files to be hidden.  Oh, and Quatre, don't think you can use my computer to contact any one else.  I've locked it tight."  Heero walked to the door and then hesitated.  "I'll send someone up with food for you in little while.  Don't do anything strenuous, let your body heal itself."  He looked like he wanted to say something else, but then he frowned and walked out the door instead.

Quatre heard the lock click behind him.  He stared blindly at the door, not really seeing it because he was so deep in thought.  _I don't care what he says, on some level he does trust me, or at least really wants too.  Otherwise he would never give me this chance to prove myself._

The blonde shook himself and reached for the laptop.  Heero had said that it was locked tight to other uses, but Quatre couldn't help but try to use it to contact one of his friends anyway.  The perfect soldier was definitely the superior hacker, and after almost an hour later the Arabian still could not bypass his codes.  Giving up, Quatre began to go over the information on Orth.  

While browsing through it the blonde came across a news clip that was only several hours old.  He opened it and settled back on the bed, injured upper body carefully propped on a mound of pillows, to watch.

The footage was from a press conference.  Everett Orth stood at a podium, lit by the flashbulbs of the media's numerous cameras.  Quatre could clearly see his sisters Ira and Terra behind him, they both looked upset.

"Quatre Raberba Winner, heir to Winner Enterprises, was kidnapped two nights ago."  Orth had to wait for the uproar to die down.  The press had suspected this but they were all still excited to have it confirmed.  "We, his family, and those at W.E., are doing everything in our power to get him back safely.  We have, as of yet, received no ransom demands.  I'll take any questions the press has now."

From there the conference quickly deteriorated into an absolute media circus.  The press made it into a huge spectacle, with Orth as the ringmaster.  He charmed and wowed them, and appealed to their greed with the offer of five million dollars to the person or persons who gave information leading to the heir's whereabouts. The Preventers, or any other law enforcement branch, was not mentioned.

It was great for publicity, but not the best way to go about getting a kidnap victim back.

Quatre grimaced and shut the video off.  Everett Orth had practically oozed false concern.  He didn't know why people couldn't see how full of crap the man was.  _They haven't seen what I've seen.  But then, you'd think the press would be able to sniff out a fellow vulture._

His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.

_What the . . .someone is actually asking permission to come into a locked prisoner's room?_  Aloud he said, "enter!"

He heard a scrape as the bolt was pulled back, then the door swung open.  It was Mia.  She was carrying a stainless steel breakfast tray, and for once, there was no gun in her hand.

_I'm sure there's at least two inside that big white coat though._

"I just came to bring you food," she said, lowering the loaded tray onto the bed.  She straightened, then stood at the foot of the bed, making no move to head for the door.

"Thank you," Quatre said politely, actually meaning it.  His head still throbbed, but not as sickeningly as before.  The thought of food was no longer nauseating.  He was actually getting hungry.

The blonde looked at the tray and then back at the dark-haired woman.  She was still making no move to leave.  "Are you," she paused, uncertain how to proceed, "feeling better?"  She finally asked.

"Yes, much, thank you."

Mia nodded, but still didn't head for the door.  Quatre felt like she was here for something, but was not yet sure what.  "Heero told me what's going on at W.E., I had no idea."  He finally said.  "I'll do whatever I can to make it right."

At his words her face twisted angrily.  "You'll do what ever you can . . ." she snorted softly and laughed.  It was not a sound of mirth, but rather one of pain.

"Yes, I will.  I'll fix this."

Her voice turned bitter.  "Can you fix past wrongs?"

"What do you mean?"  He pressed gently, sensing that they were finally getting to her reason for being here.

"What about the lives that W.E. destroyed, can you right those, Master Winner?"

"Whose lives, Mia?"

"Do you really want to know?  If I tell, you won't be able to return to your ignorance, and ignorance is bliss in this case, believe me."

He just looked at her expectantly.

She began to pace restlessly across the room, back and forth, the movements almost hypnotic.  She kept touching her coat, and Quatre realized she was stroking her gun through the fabric.  "They've taken people, people who they didn't think would be missed, and used them as lab rats.  They tested drugs on them, drugs to up human aggression, without worrying about the affect it would have on their patients!"  She stopped pacing abruptly and stopped in front of him, although she still touched her gun, as if finding comfort in it.  "I know this because they used my little brother."

Quatre stared at her, a sick feeling invading his stomach.  He was no longer hungry.  "What happened?"

She took up her pacing again.  "His name is Daniel.  He was fourteen when it happened.  Our mother had died during the war, so I took care of him.  I worked as a freelance mercenary, a hired gun, so I wasn't around as much as I should have been.  But someone had to get the money to pay for a place to live and for him to go to school."  She frowned, angry with herself, and then continued.  "One day I came back and he wasn't there.  I questioned his friends, and one of them said that he had last seen him going off with some men in a car.  That had been happening a lot lately, we lived in a poor neighborhood, there were plenty of kids that no one important would miss."  

She paused, and then spoke again, her expression fierce.  "But I missed my brother, and I may not be an important, powerful person, but I wasn't going to let anybody fuck around with the only family I had left.  I followed some of the kids around, ones that were likely targets, and it wasn't long before those bastards tried again.  But this time I was there.  I killed all but one, and made the one I had left alive bring me to my brother."

She paused in her pacing again, a riot of emotions dancing across her features.  "There was a big gray building, and inside there was a lab.  And inside that lab . . ." she shuddered and then met Quatre's eyes, her own were haunted.  "There were people in cages.  Honest to god cages.  They were all teenagers, apparently the tests worked best on the young and healthy, and most of them had already been injected.  Those kids were going crazy.  If they put any together they would literally tear each other apart, and alone they would turn their rage on themselves.  There was so much blood."  Mia's eyes had a far away look in them.  "The cages were dripping with blood and guts and skin, but the rest of the lab, it was just so fucking sterile.  Like those damn monsters in their pristine white lab coats somehow managed to keep themselves _clean_, it was all about science to them.  I don't even think they saw those kids as people!"

"What happened to your brother?"  Quatre asked gently.

"He . . . he wasn't one of the kids in the cages, thank god.  One of the doctors had taken an interest in him.  Daniel is such a cute kid . . . and, and . . ."

Suddenly what she had said in the cell after shooting Rai made a lot more sense.  "It was like what Rai Setsuna almost did to me, wasn't it?"

"Yeah.  I came in and caught the monster in the act.  I blew his brains out, but Daniel, there was something wrong with him.  The man had injected him with a milder form of the drug, or maybe it was something else entirely, but combining that with the rape, he went inside his own mind.  He's completely cationic.  The people at the hospital I took him to, they don't think he'll ever wake up."

"That's why you joined Red Thorn."

She nodded.  "I couldn't take these people on, not by myself.  But if I had known that Setsuna was like . . . that man . . . I would have put him down like the mad dog he was."  

"I'm sorry.  I know words aren't even close to adequate for what you lost, but I'm sorry anyway."  Quatre looked down, horrified and ashamed.  "I know you don't believe me, but I had no idea that any of this was happening in W.E., and I know I can't make it right for you, or even better, but I will stop the man responsible."

"I do believe you.  You could have killed Byers and Park, hell, I would have if I had been in your shoes, but you didn't.  The person responsible for those atrocities in the lab, he would have shot to kill and then happily bathed in the blood.  And I've seen how you are with the Senator's son.  He's an innocent in all of this," Mia said, unknowingly echoing Quatre's words from before.  "I'm sorry that we put him through all this."

"Mia, Heero has me going on a mission to prove that I'm trustworthy.  He's making Eric stay behind as a hostage.  Will you keep him safe well I'm gone?  Make sure nobody hurts him?"  He left the unspoken words, _like Setsuna tried to do to me_, off the sentence.

She heard the unspoken words anyway.  "Nothing will happen to that boy, I'll guard him myself," she promised.

"Thank you," Quatre murmured, "and Mia thank you for before, for saving me."

She looked uncomfortable with the thanks, but nodded.  "I need to go now, good luck to you."

"And to you," the blonde said to the door as it swung shut behind her.  They may have bonded but Quatre still heard the click of the lock as the bolt was put in place.

He leaned back into the pillows on the bed, rubbing his bruised face tiredly.  He glanced at the tray of food.  He was no longer hungry but decided that he had better eat anyway.

The blonde was just cleaning up the last bite of toast when the door opened again as Heero returned.  "Good, you ate it all," he said, eyeballing the empty tray.

Quatre raised an eyebrow.  "Did you feel you needed to check up on me?  Don't trust me to eat my food like a good little patient either?"  

Heero just grunted, ignoring the blonde's uncharacteristic snarking.  "What was Mia doing in here?"

"Talking."

Now Heero's eyebrows went up at the monosyllabic answer.  "She told you her reasons for coming to Red Thorn."  It wasn't really a question.

"Yes."

Heero nodded grimly, and then retrieved his laptop off the bed, moving to sit in the chair with it on his lap.  Quatre watched him curiously.  "Heero, where did you go after we destroyed the gundams?  What did you do?"

The other boy didn't look up from his laptop when he answered.  "I tried school for a while, tried to make friends, and act like a regular person, but it didn't work out."

"Why?"

"I couldn't leave my training behind.  Not many kids appreciate someone who throws them into a locker when they grab an arm to get your attention."

Quatre winced.  Heero looked up at him and frowned.  "Your bandages need to be changed."  The other boy went into the bathroom and came back out with more medical supplies.  He reached for the belt on the blonde's robe, intent on getting to the cut on his chest, but Quatre clutched at the cloth protectively.  It was an automatic reaction.

Heero looked at him expectantly.  Finally with a slight blush, the blonde allowed him to continue.  The dark-haired boy bent over him and begin to peel off the old bandage, surprisingly gentle.

"It won't work for you either, you know."

"What won't work?"

"Being a regular student, regaining you innocence."

"That's not what I'm trying to do!"

"Isn't it?"

"No, of course not!"

Heero carefully began to re-bandage the cut.  "You're trying to get back the childhood that you never had, the childhood that you gave up for the colonies.  But you can't Quatre.  You, and me, have killed.  Done things that a normal person couldn't even comprehend in their innocence.  You can't go back to being normal, if you ever were to begin with.  You're too well trained.  And worse, you're too much like me."

"What is the purpose of saying this Heero?  Believe me, I'm aware that I can never be innocent.  And comparing me to you is hardly an insult."

"No?"

"No."  Quatre said firmly.  "During the end of the war, you kept me together, you kept us all together.  You pushed me when I didn't think I could go any further.  You may not trust me right now Heero, but I trust you."

Heero finished placing the bandage on, then he reached up and grabbed the blonde's chin, stroking his thumb along the jaw line.  "Are you sure you should trust me, Quatre?"  He murmured huskily.  "I said I was keeping an eye on you.  I know all sorts of things that I could use against you."  He bent closer still, breathing his words into the other boy's ears.  "For example, I know that you had a very short lived relationship with one of the Maguanacs."

He pulled back slightly and looked into Quatre's eyes, his own hooded.  "I even know that you had feelings for me during the war.  I heard you and Duo talking on the Peacemillion . . . and I saw what happened afterwards."

Quatre felt a blush begin to burn on his cheeks.  He remembered that day.

**Notes:**  Well this chapter has taken me forever and a day to complete.  I'm not particularly happy with it, but I needed to get through some stuff to set it up for chapter 9.  I'm actually gainfully employed again, damn it, and my job requires that I get up at five o'clock in the morning.  That means I can't write until three in the morning like I usually do . . . grr, that's the time when my brain is at its best.  I need to win the lottery.

I sat down one day and planned the rest of this story out, but stuff is still managing to sneak in.  The ending for this chapter isn't exactly what I was originally going to do, but oh well.  I guess Duo is sneaking his way in . . .

Reviews are loved and feed the author's brain!


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer:**  Don't own them, receiving no money.

**Warning:**  Violence, swearing, and yaoi, 1X4.  And in this chapter non-graphic sex, (2X4).

Chapter 9 

On the Peacemillion, 2 years earlier.

Quatre stared down at the schematics of Libra without really seeing them.  He was alone in Peacemillion's war room when everyone else was asleep.  His own mind was too full for sleep.  Full of the coming battle, and thoughts of the other pilots, one in particular.

The deliberate sound of a boot being scuffed on the floor let him know that he was no longer alone.  Looking up, he saw Duo standing casually in the doorway.

"Hey Q-Man, whatcha still doing up?"  The braided boy strolled over to the empty chair beside the blonde and sat down in a comfortable sprawl, heels propped on the table.

"I couldn't sleep.  What about you?"

"Same problem.  I'm just way too damn wired.  This coming battle, it'll be intense, you know?  I mean, we've got all five of us together, finally, a sure sign that the shit's about to hit the fan."

"What do you think of them?"

"The other pilots?"  Quatre nodded.  "They're all pretty intense.  Trowa's a quiet guy, the strong silent type, but I like him.  Wufei's got quite the temper.  I was checking out his gundam, just a little harmless curiosity, and the guy almost skewers me with that freaking sword he always carries around!  He sure needs to relax a little.  Then there's Heero.  He's still as nutty as the first time I met him.  I mean, we're all a little bit crazy, we'd have to be to do the shit we do, but this guy takes it to a whole new level."

"He's not that bad," the blonde said, eyes pointed back to the blue prints.

"Not that bad?  Quatre, he's a psycho . . . wait a minute, you like him, don't you?"

A slow blush began to rise in Quatre's cheeks.

"Oh man, you do!  I mean he is a hottie, but so are all the rest of the pilots!  Why not Trowa?  He seems a little more stable than that guy, despite the memory loss stuff.  I thought you had a thing for him, not Yuy!"

Quatre shook his head slowly.  "I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive myself for what I did to Trowa.  He's beautiful and fascinating, but . . . he's not Heero."

"Nope, guess not, despite their shared fondness for stoic ness.  Man Q, you sure no how to pick 'em.  So have you told him?  Or have you already been playing a little slap and tickle behind my back?"

"Duo!"

"While geez, I guess not."

"No I haven't told him, and I don't plan to."

"Why the hell not?  Either one of you could die tomorrow, why not take advantage of the time you have now?  Or are you afraid of a little rejection?"

"Yes, but that's not all of it.  It's never going to happen.  And it's because we're in this war that it can't.  If he did return my feelings, I'd be a distraction for him, and he'd be one for me.  I'd worry about a lover in battle, Duo, most people would.  That kind of worry could get a person killed, it could lead to fatal mistakes.  We both need to stay focused."

"Sounds like you're already worried about him."

"I worry about you all, that's nothing new."

Duo grinned.  "Love you too, Q-Man.  But I gotta tell you, your excuses both suck and blow, big time.  So what is it, hormones or a little of the L-word?"

Quatre sighed and wearily rubbed his eyes.  "A lot from column A and a little from column B."

"So put them together and you don't think you can do anything about either one?"

"Yes."

"So conceivably, if you had the attraction without the feelings you'd be willing to indulge?"

The blonde looked curiously at his friend.  "Duo, are you trying to imply something?"

"Um, maybe . . . oh hell.  Yeah I am.  I'm surrounded by all these attractive, interesting guys and all I can do is look and not touch?  It's frustrating as hell."  Duo scooted his chair a little closer to the blonde boy.  "I don't want to ruin our friendship or anything, but do you find me at all attractive?

Quatre's cheeks began to turn red again.  "While, yes, I mean, who wouldn't?"

"Man, you're going to give me a swelled head."  The braided pilot grinned weakly.  "Would you, would you maybe want to, um, you know . . ."

"Yes."

Duo looked up at the blushing blonde, surprise written across his features.  He hadn't really expected Quatre to agree, but he wasn't one to lose out on an opportunity.  He reached out and put his hand on the other boy's face, and then pulled him forward for a gentle kiss.

Quatre's eyes closed automatically at the delicate press of lips.  Hesitantly he extended his tongue and lightly traced the outline of Duo's mouth.  The other boy groaned, and opened his mouth.  The kiss deepened, became wild, as they both put all their pent up feelings into it.  Fear, for the friends, of their own failure, was all lost as they connected on the most primitive of levels.  Clothes were practically shredded in their haste to appease their need.  Before he knew it the blonde was on the conference table with Duo on top, Libra's plans underneath, the paper ripping with their movements.  Neither one cared.  They were lost to everything but the excitement and comfort to be found in each other.

And neither boy noticed the shadow standing stunned in the partially opened doorway.

The Present.

Quatre stared at the boy inches from his face.  "Why, why didn't you ever say anything before?"

"It wasn't my business.  You two could do whatever you wanted," Heero said, his tone free of emotion.  
  


"It only happened that one time.  We decided we worked best as friends."  Quatre paused, and then frowned.  "Why are you bringing this up now?"

Heero ran his fingers over the blonde's jaw line again.  "Why do you think?"  The other boy stared at him, eyes wide.  "What kind of person does this make me that I would use this information, bring this up, after what Rai Setsuna nearly did to you?"  His expression was bitter.

With those self-loathing words Quatre abruptly calmed, knowing what he must do.  He leaned forward and returned the caress.  "Still a kind person," he breathed.  Then he leaned forward the necessary few inches and softly pressed his lips against Heero's.

The perfect soldier held himself stiff, trying to ignore the blonde's gentle touch.  Then he suddenly melted, moved his hands to cup his face and stroke the baby-fine hair.  The kiss hardened, still oddly gentle, and very intimate.  Quatre ran his hands over Heero's back.  The world spun dizzily, and the blonde cried out softly, finding himself moved on to his back, the movement to fast for his still sore head.

Heero cursed and pulled away, face flushed.  "We can't do this, I'll only hurt you more."

"Heero .  . ." the blonde murmured unhappily.  It was only a token protest.  No matter how frustrating it was, he knew that he really wasn't well enough for this quite yet.

The dark-haired boy moved from the bed and collected his laptop.  "You need to sleep.  Tomorrow the rescue will be arranged, and you'll have a lot to do."

He paused near the foot of the bed, and looked at Quatre.  His eyes were confused and pain-filled, the expression more open than anything Quatre had ever seen before.  "If I find out that you're the traitor . . . I will kill you."  The words, _after what just happened,_ remained unspoken.  Heero left the room, bolting the door behind him.  

The blonde had a hard time falling asleep after that.

The next day Quatre woke feeling much better.  The pain in his head had abated to a faint throb, the bruises had begun to fade, and the cuts on his person were healing nicely.

To bad his emotions weren't doing the same.

Heero came in briefly to drop off clothes and breakfast, then he left again, presumably to get things ready for Quatre's "release."  After filling his stomach and getting dressed in real clothes, he felt almost human again.

The blonde was left to his own devices for several hours, which basically consisted of him fretting, until Heero came back.

"Your escape and rescue has been all set up.  Take this communicator.  I want you to contact me whenever you get a chance.  I'll need to stay informed on your whereabouts."  Heero was all business, completing focused on the mission at hand.  It was like the kiss the day before had never happened.

Quatre was silent during most of his briefing.  Finally when the other boy finished he spoke up.  "Heero, I'm not leaving until I get a chance to talk to Eric and make sure he's all right."

"Don't worry about him.  You need to stay focused on the mission at hand."

"I will worry until I see him.  Please Heero."

The other boy finally nodded in acquiescence, but he did not look happy.  Quatre was escorted to the new cell two floors down where Eric was being held.  The blonde carefully memorized the route, in case he had a chance to go back for the boy himself.  He knew Heero was aware of what he was doing, but he said nothing.

The Arabian was relieved to note that Mia was indeed keeping her word and guarding the cell.  She nodded at him in acknowledgement, and he gave a slight smile back. 

Heero unlocked the door and gestured for Quatre to go inside.  His face was back to its expressionless mask and his gun was out, but not pointed.  The blonde hurried in before he could change his mind.

Eric looked up, huge eyes peering through his glasses, which apparently someone had been kind enough to return.  His face lit up hopefully when he saw Quatre, but fell just as abruptly when he saw that Heero was also there in the doorway.  He had obviously been hoping that he was about to be rescued.

Quatre studied him critically.  His hands had been chained much more comfortably in front of him, and there was an empty tray of food beside his feet.  _Mia's work, _he thought, with a great deal of relief.

"Are you okay?  They haven't hurt you have they?"

"N-no, I'm okay.  Quatre I really, really want to get out of here," he whispered in a tiny voice.

"I know Eric, and I swear I'll get you out as soon as I can.  I have to do something for them first, and then they'll let you go."

"Do something?  What are they making you do?"  He said worriedly.

"Remember how I told you Red Thorn was against corporations?  While in this case the company their up against is actually corrupt, and it's my own.  There are some things going on in W.E., things that I wasn't aware of, things that are very wrong.  I'm going to help Red Thorn stop them."

"You're going to help them!  Quatre are you insane?  These people kidnapped us, kidnapped us out of a restaurant with guns!  Then kept us prisoner in these tiny little cells!  That guy, the ex-gundam pilot isn't going to keep his word.  He'll kill me as soon as you leave!

Quatre grabbed Eric's chained hands.  "He won't, Eric.  I swear to you he will not hurt you.  Heero isn't as bad as you think."

"Not as bad!  He's a terrorist!  We can't trust him!"

"So was I Eric," Quatre said quietly, eyes sad.  "Sometimes people do things that don't seem right to others, but there are reasons that aren't readily apparent.  Things aren't as they appear."

Eric looked at him.  "Were you really a gundam pilot?"  He murmured quietly.

"Yes."

"Did you kill people?"

"Yes," the blonde answered, just as quietly.

"Were they bad people?"

"Some of them, but not all.  Some were just soldiers doing their job."

"Are you sorry that you killed them?"

"Yes."

That answer seemed to give some kind of obscure comfort to the other boy.  He nodded slowly, and then his hand tightened around Quatre's, desperately.  "Please don't leave me here."

"I swear to you Eric, I will be back for you.  Everything will be alright."

"It's time to go," Heero said from the doorway.

Eric glanced suspiciously past the blonde's shoulder.  "Be careful Quatre, okay?"

"I will, and I'll be back before you know it."  The Arabian glanced behind him at Mia.  "If you need anything ask the woman in the white coat.  She said she'd keep you safe while I was gone.  Her name is Mia.  You can trust her."

Eric blew out a breath and nodded his head shakily.  "She's been a lot nicer than any of the others," he whispered.

Quatre ignored the pain in his heart and squeezed the other boy's hand reassuringly.  "See you soon."  The blonde moved away toward the hallway after Eric nodded.  Heero leaned back against the doorframe to let him pass, face back to its unreadable state.

Mia looked at him, dark eyes serious.  "He'll be fine.  I promised, didn't I?"

"You did," he said calmly.  

Heero stepped past him.  "Come on, it's time."  He started to move down the hallway, not glancing back to see if Quatre was following.

He caught Mia's eyes one more time, and then he followed after the perfect soldier.

He had a mission to complete.

**Notes:**  While I'm officially down into crunch time.  I need to finish this thing before September when school starts, otherwise it will take me forever to update.  Don't worry I have a plan.  I will write like I never have before.  (I hope).

I never, ever expected that Duo and Quatre would do it.  It's those damn elves again.  I personally am not a huge fan of 2 and 4 in a relationship because I think that they need to be paired with the less expressive boys, because frankly those three need all the help they can get with their feelings.  But I like them as friends and I can see a fling happening.  (While obviously I managed to see it very clearly).

Thanks again to all the people reading this.  I read your reviews and I can't believe that we're talking about the same story.  You make me sound so much better than I actually am.  Diane, thanks for noting the undertones.  Glad this makes enough sense for you to pick up on the emotions behind the words.  Kasra and Card Mistress, glad you're starting to like Mia.  And no Nanashi, I have not died.  If I did my ghost would come back and finish this story.


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer:**  Gundam Wing isn't mine, and I'm making no money off of this.

**Warning:**  Mild swearing, violence, and yaoi.

Chapter 10 

The press surged toward him, a faceless amoeba, microphones and cameras used as pseudopodia.  Quatre kept his face calm, as expressionless as he could get, not willing to give the media anything but a tranquil shot of him.  He ignored both the microphones shoved unceremoniously in his face and the questions being shouted at him from all sides.

"Quatre Winner!  Is it true that you hid under a false identity at a local boarding school before the kidnapping?"

"Did you see Senator Davis's son when you were held?  Is he still alive?"

"You haven't disclosed your whereabouts during the war, does this have something to do with that time?"

Quatre gritted his teeth and moved as quickly as he could through the throng.  W.E.'s hired bodyguards pushed through the mass so that he didn't have to.  Ira was at his side, holding his arm firmly in her grip, as if afraid he'd disappear again if she let go.

Not nearly soon enough for the blonde, they were pulled out of the mass of blood thirsty reporters and on to a large, square stage.  Quatre was hard pressed to keep his neutral face when he saw who was waiting for him beside the podium where he was to make his statement to the press.  

Everett Orth.  

The man stepped over to them and took Quatre's smaller hand in his larger one, shaking it heartily, and squeezing just a little to tight.  The ex-pilot had to fight his reflex to yank away.  "I'm so glad you're safe, Quatre, your sister and I were just worried sick.  We're all happy to see you safe and sound."  His tone was warm, but Quatre could detect the cold calculation in his gray eyes.

The blonde nodded in response and curved his lips into a facsimile of a smile, though it felt a little bit to tight to look exactly right.  He ignored the small frown Orth gave him in response and stepped away, moving to stand behind the podium.  He settled himself calmly and faced the crowd, waiting for the noise to die down, which it did fairly quickly when they saw that the heir to the Winner fortune was about to speak.

Quatre lifted his head to look into the crowd.  The bruises on his face were fading, but still perfectly visible to the cameras.  "Several days ago I, Quatre Raberba Winner, was abducted from a crowded restaurant by several armed men.  Taken with me was Senator Davis's son, Eric Davis.  We were taken to an unknown location and held prisoner for days, presumably for ransom, though whether it was monetary or political I do not know.  I was separated from Mr. Davis, and the kidnappers attempted to transport me to another location in a van.  I managed to get free and jumped from the moving vehicle onto the highway, where several kind W.E. hired private investigators helped me find my way home."  

Heero had planned all this in advance.  He knew that the P.I.'s were going to be close to the location where the van had let him out.  "I don't know where Eric Davis is being held at this moment, but I plan to work with the Preventer Agency and give them all the information I have that might help find him.  I'm not going to disclose any more details to the press, as it might impede the investigation.  I am not taking any questions."

With that Quatre stepped off the podium, ignoring the sudden shouting as the press vented its ire at not being allowed to interrogate him.  Orth stopped him quickly on his way off the stage.  "Quatre, I hope you'll be willing to come to the engagement party of Terra and I at my house tomorrow.  I know you're sister would love it if you were there."  The man smiled, reminding Quatre of a particularly slimy crocodile showing its teeth.

"Believe me, I wouldn't miss it for the world.  Barring anymore unfortunate kidnappings of course."

"Of course," Everett said, voice sly like he was in on some private joke.

He hurried around the other man.  The bodyguards once more cleared the way as Ira led him to a large, heavily guarded limousine.  As soon as Quatre scrambled inside he found himself pounced on.  It seemed at least one third of his 29 sisters were already in the car, and they were all intent on crooning and cooing over his bruises, when they weren't berating him for getting kidnapped in the first place and making them worry.

"Poor baby, look what they did to you!"

"See, I told you school wasn't a good idea, you should have stayed home where you were safe with us!"

"If you ever, ever make me worry like that again I'll . . ."

"I'm going to hunt down each and everyone of those bastards who did this and make them sorry that they ever heard the name Winner!"

Quatre was beginning to wish he had stayed tied to the chair in his cell.

Ira patted his hand sympathetically and then held up her hand for silence.  Amazingly, the rest of the sisters actually began to fall quiet.  "I'm sure our baby brother has had enough of people shouting into his face."  She glanced out the window.  "Ah, there's are last two passengers."  She smiled mischievously at Quatre as she opened the door.  Two very familiar people slid in quickly into the already filled to capacity limo.  The last one in slammed the door behind them, right into the faces of some of the more nosy press members.  The car began to move away from the media circus immediately.

"Trowa!  Duo!  What are you two doing here?"

Duo grinned and winked.  "Guarding your back buddy.  Wouldn't want anymore unfortunate abductions to take place when we just got you back!"

Trowa nodded his head in agreement.  "It's good to have you back safe Quatre," he said quietly.

"Humph, no thanks to you Preventers," one of his sisters piped up angrily.  

Quatre winced.  "Patricia, I'm a Preventer too, believe me, it wasn't there fault."

He got glares from all directions.  Sisters weren't reasonable when it came to family, in fact, they were downright scary.

The blonde turned back to his friends.  Duo was eyeing the hostile horde of women nervously.  He looked like he was contemplating making his own jump out of a moving vehicle.  Trowa's face was blank as usual, but he seemed to be hiding behind his bangs a little more than was normal.  "So I assume we're heading to headquarters?  So that I can tell you what happened?"

"Yep, only if these lovely ladies agree, of course."

The violet-eyed boy's comment got several angry sniffs, but Ira frowned and glared commandingly around at the offenders, so no further sounds were heard.

The three boy's decided to wait to discuss the kidnapping until they got to headquarters, so Quatre had to put up with the fussing of his sisters all the way there.  It made him really glad that it was a short trip.

Soon the black limousine smoothly pulled to a halt and Trowa, Duo, and Quatre all piled out.  Ira stopped the blonde with a hand on his arm before he could make his escape.  "We'll be back to pick you up in two hours, so you'd better be done by then.  You're not going home alone."

Quatre raised an eyebrow.  "All of you?"   

"You'd better believe it!"  One of his sister's shouted out, he couldn't tell which one with so many of them together.

Ira nodded, perfectly in unity with her sister for the moment.  "Two hours.  Be ready."  She shut the door and the limo pulled smoothly away from the curb.  _And I thought she was the reasonable one_, the blonde thought, with an inward sigh.

"Man Q, I really don't envy you.  Suddenly I'm glad I'm an orphan."  Duo shuddered theatrically and Trowa nodded his head in agreement.

Quatre grinned.  But the smile faded as he looked at his two friends.  _How could either one of them be a traitor?_

Duo frowned in concern.  "You really okay Quatre?"  His voice was uncharacteristically serious.

"I will be when this whole thing is solved.  Let's go up so we can start working on it."

The three ex-pilots headed into the building and took the elevator up to the Preventer offices.  The obnoxious secretary was on duty, but this time Quatre passed him with out any incident.  In fact, the man actually nodded respectably and greeted him as Mr. Winner.  With all the press coverage, the blonde was now deemed important enough to be allowed in without fuss.

The three agents soon entered the office of Lady Une.  Quatre had a strong sense of déjà vu as all six of them were once more together in the spacious room.

Sally's face lit up in relief when she saw him.  "Well you're looking well all things considered.  We've been searching for you none stop, and then you just go ahead and rescue yourself."  She shook her head, mock scolding.

"Please sit down Quatre," Une said gesturing to a chair.  She studied him carefully, worry written across her features.  "I want Sally to take a look at you before you leave."

"I've already been checked out by some doctor's in W.E.'s employ . . ."

"Nevertheless, I'd feel better if one of _our_ medic's gave you a clean bill of health."

Quatre smiled slightly.  Not sure if he should be flattered over her concern or annoyed by it.  "If you insist."

She hesitated, and then nodded.  "I think I do."

"So," Wufei said, "did you see Heero and find out what's going on?"

_I still can't see any of them as a traitor, and yet my heart tells me that Heero was telling the truth.  He, at least, believes there is a treacherous person among us, and so I better approach this the way he wanted me to._  "No," the blonde lied.  "I don't think he knew anything about the kidnappings."  The best lies were those mixed in with some truth.  "From what I could gather, the entire plot was masterminded by Rai Setsuna."

"Red Thorn's old leader?  The fanatic?"  Trowa said, usually emotionless voice a little startled.  "Does that mean that he's back in power?  Has Heero been disposed?"

Quatre shook his head.  "No.  It seems he was busy with something else and Setsuna was left in charge with him gone."  The blonde hesitated, and then decided to tell them the rest.  Otherwise they might find out anyway and he'd be left with more questions.  "By the time I left though, he was no longer leading."

"Who is leading, then?  What happened?""  Une asked curiously.

"I'm not sure, I think Heero might be back now.  The fanatic is dead."

"Dead?  By your hand?"  Wufei asked.

"No, though it was _because_ of me he was killed, or rather because of what he was trying to do to me.  Mia Shahar was the one to kill him, she shot him in the head."

"What did he try, Q?"  Duo asked, tone sharp with dread.

Quatre hesitated and tried to think of how to approach this delicately.  If his friends were still his friends this would upset them.  "He had a . . .a certain fondness for younger boys."

"He tried to rape you?"  Duo hissed, getting it immediately.

"Yes."

If one of them were treacherous they acted very well.  All five looked upset, expressions varying from outrage to shock.  Duo's usually happily sparkling violet eyes had gone cold.  He looked like he was contemplating digging up the man's corpse and kicking it a couple of times for good measure.  Trowa looked sick and was watching the blonde boy worriedly.  Sally's look of surprise was gradually changing into concern, her doctor's instincts coming to the fore.  Wufei looked murderous, and Une looked like she was about to start crying.

"Son of a bitch . . ." the braided boy began angrily.

"It's okay Duo.  Mia killed him before he could really do anything.  I'm fine."

None of them really looked convinced.

Wufei shook his head.  "I never thought I'd have a reason to thank one of Red Thorn's members, especially an onna."

Sally and Une both shot him annoyed looks, but Trowa interrupted before it could come down to a battle of the sexes.  "Can you tell us what you remember of the place you were held?"

Quatre nodded and launched into a false description.  Une's huge mahogany desk was messier then the blonde had ever seen it.  She had to relocate a small gray communicator, three pens, a pair of glasses, and a box of computer disks to get to the piles of papers that contained the plans for possible Red Thorn bases.  Four of the blueprints matched the generic descriptions that the blonde had given, Une planned to send Sally out with a team of agents to check them out once they were done here.

Quatre spent the next hour feeding them false information laced with truth.  Everything that had happened with Heero was left out along with everything he had learned about the rottenness at Winner Enterprises.  The blonde was a good liar, his skills at strategy helped him in this, but Duo, probably because he knew him the best, would still give him certain looks every so often.

Finally, his ordeal was over, and they all dispersed to do whatever business they had been assigned.  Quatre followed Sally Po to an examination room.  She fussed over him for a while, and then finally pronounced that he was in good health and he could leave.  When he exited the medical station he found that Trowa was waiting for him.

"I assume you received a clean bill of health?"

"Do you think Sally would have let me out if I hadn't?"

Trowa's lips twitched.  "I guess not."  They fell into step together and started to head for the elevators so that Quatre could meet up with his sisters.

"I thought you were guarding Relena, Trowa?"

He shrugged.  "I was, but when we found out you had been kidnapped, Une replaced me with several other Preventer agents so that I could look for you."

"Several agents?"  The blonde raised an eyebrow.  "She decided that if she couldn't have quality she'd have quantity, huh?"

Trowa smiled slightly.  "I guess so." 

They had almost reached the elevator when the blonde heard a shout from behind him.  "Quatre Winner!"

The two ex-pilots turned as a distinguished older gentleman approached them.  Quatre stiffened slightly when he recognized him.

"Mr. Winner," the man said gravely, extending his hand to shake the blonde's.  "I'm Nathan Davis."  His handshake was firm but not crushing.

"Senator," Quatre greeted, just as gravely.  He could see that the man's anxiety was barely held in check by his polished political manners.

"You saw my son?  He's, he's alright isn't he?"

"The last time I saw him he was completely unhurt.  And I'm sure he still is.  They're not going to harm him as long as they need him."

The senator nodded, relief barely evident in his aristocratic features.  Eric had inherited very little of his father's looks, the nose was the same, and the chin, but Quatre suspected that the rest of his appearance came from the genes of his dead mother.

"The Preventers are very good at what the do, especially the agents who have been put on this case," the blonde nodded toward Trowa.  "I'm sure he'll be returned to you before you know it," he said soothingly.

"I hope so."  Nathan's voice faltered suddenly.  "I-I haven't been around for my son as much as I should have been.  I mean to change that if . . . I mean when he is returned."

"That's good," Quatre said, eyes full of compassion.  He glanced at his wristwatch.  "Senator, I hate to leave, but if I'm not downstairs in five minutes my sisters will skin me alive for making them worry.  Perhaps Agent Barton can stay with you?"  The blonde looked at Trowa questioningly.  The green-eyed boy nodded his head almost imperceptibly.

Quatre waved goodbye to them both, pausing to grip the Senator's hand and tell him again that everything would be alright.  The blonde had a double motive for leaving the other pilot there.  Not only would he be a comforting presence for Eric's father, if he could calm agitated lines he could certainly calm a human, but he also wanted a chance to contact Heero before his sisters pulled up.  And he couldn't do that in front of Trowa.

When he got down to ground level, Quatre stood in the shadow of the building and pulled out the communicator that Heero had given him.

"Yuy."

"Heero, I just finished meeting with the others at Preventer headquarters."

"What happened?"

Quatre told him.  "But I don't see how any of them could be a traitor.  Everyone was acting normal, I didn't pick up any strange signals from anyone, and I was watching for it."

Heero nodded.  "Not a surprise.  They'd have to be very skilled at hiding themselves to have lasted this long.  Did you get invited to the engagement party?"

"Yes, everything's going according to plan."

"Good contact me before you get to the estate.  Yuy out."

Quatre grimaced at the small, and now blank screen.  Things hadn't changed.  When Heero was involved in a mission he focused only on completing it, to the extent that any feelings were practically removed.

The blonde heard the familiar purr of an engine and glanced up as the Winner family limo came to stop beside.  _Great, now let's just hope I can survive my sisters for the rest of the day, otherwise Heero's going to have to do mission himself._  When the door opened Ira practically yanked his arm off when she pulled him in.  The door shut behind him and the car pulled away.

Quatre did not notice the form standing just out of his line of sight in the entrance to the building.  The figure had been watching him throughout his conversation with Heero, and now violet eyes were narrowed in speculation.

**Notes:**  Yes!  Another chapter completed.  Only a week until I have to move into my dorm.  I have _got_ to finish this before then.

Reviewers, I'm loving you guys more than ever.  Glad you all like the 2X4 scene.  Caer, you can kidnap me as long as you promise to feed me junk food and take me for walks ever once in a while so I don't get too fat.  But I think you're doing a much, much, better job on your stories then I would.


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer:**  I don't own Gundam Wing.  The only compensation I get from this comes from my own healthy sense of accomplishment.

**Warning:**  Swearing, violence, and yaoi.

Chapter 11 

Orth's estate was huge and sprawling.  The main house, or rather, mansion, was as elegant and cultured as the man himself.  And like Everett Orth, the handsome exterior was just another façade to hide the rottenness within.

A uniformed servant opened the car door at the entrance.  Quatre stepped out of the limo and then turned around to graciously offer his arm to Ira as she emerged after him.  "My little brother is such a gentleman.  And I, of course, taught him everything he knows." 

Quatre chuckled as she dragged him toward the entrance, not bothering to wait for any of their sisters.  They had been forced to take three separate limousines to get nearly all thirty of them along.

The interior of the mansion would have made any normal person gawk like a slack-jawed yokel.  The grand entrance room was done in 19th century French.  The furniture was Louis XIV, heavily gilded and masterfully carved, and a sweeping grand staircase gracefully drew the eye up to the Poussin painting displayed proudly on the wall at the top.  But to the heir of the Winner fortune, who had grown up surrounded by such luxuries, it was just another house. 

By the time the man at the door had finished taken their coats, the rest of Quatre's sisters had caught up.  The gaggle of Winner children was ushered into the reception room just off the huge dining area where they were to have dinner.

Here were the rest of Orth's guests.  All beautifully dressed in their formal wear, heavily bejeweled, and smelling of expensive perfumes and colognes.  The blonde boy tried not to grimace.  He hated the artificiality and pretension of these kinds of parties.

At first glance, with his elegant gray suit, Quatre fit in perfectly with the other guests.  But if someone were to look beneath the clothes they'd get an entirely different picture.  Underneath his dinner jacket he wore a shoulder holster, which held two of his favorite handguns.  Around his waist he had ten small-grade explosives.  Strapped to his ankle was a long knife, fashioned out of, of all things, gundanium from Sandrock.  And hidden about his person were several small electronic devices that he could use for various purposes, including opening locked doors or safes.

Quatre was, literally, dressed to kill.

No sooner had he stepped into the room then he heard someone squealing his name.  He glanced up to see a petite, curly-haired, blond woman in a flowing peach dress.  It was his sister, Terra.  She ran to him and gave him a hug that nearly squeezed the stuffing out of him.  "Oh Quatre honey, look how you've grown!"  She said this every time she saw him, whether it had been days or months.  "I was so worried about you when I heard what happened that I almost canceled this party!"

"Well I'm glad you didn't have to," the ex-pilot said with a smile, though he was thinking something else.  _I wish you had canceled you engagement to the slimy bastard entirely._  But he couldn't say that.  Terra's blind spot in regards to her fiancé was even more encompassing than anyone else in his family.  All it would accomplish would be getting her to never speak to him again.  

"I'm certainly happy about that too," Everett Orth said, coming up behind Terra and sliding his arm possessively about her shoulders.  Quatre had the sudden nearly uncontrollable urge to draw his knife and slit the man's throat.  _When I send him to prison, and she finds out about all the things he's involved in, it's going to break her heart._

"Well now that the rest of my future family is here we can commence with dinner, come Terra."  Orth led her off and the rest of the guests followed suit.

Dinner was torture.  The blonde had to make polite conversation with Orth, when all he really wanted to do was grab the man and shake him until he spilled out answers.  All the other guests wanted to do was discuss his kidnapping.  It was the most exciting thing that had happened to anyone in their social circle in quite along time.  Ten courses was entirely to long of a time to have to avoid questions.

Finally the meal was finished, and all the guests retired to the ballroom for dancing.  Quatre was forced to dance with some of his sisters, and other eligible young ladies, until he finally managed to slip away.

It was time for the hunt to begin.

Quatre started his search in the east wing.  Checking out the places Heero had highlighted on the house plans was slow going.  The place was crawling with uniformed security.  It was less like a private residence and more like a military base at the height of Oz's power.  _He's definitely got something to hide_, the blonde thought.  

Finding a safe behind a painting, the Arabian began to get out his gizmos when he heard footsteps.  _Damn it._  He looked around, there weren't many places to hide, but the ceiling was covered with exposed rafters.  Quatre quickly ran to an expensive Italian silk couch and used it as a jumping point.  With a graceful, and mind-boggling high, leap, he scrambled up onto the rafters.  He then held himself perfectly still as a guard walked into the room.  _Please, please don't look up_.  Luckily the man didn't, and the blonde was soon again alone in the room.  

He jumped down and moved back to the safe.  It was opened in mere minutes, but all it contained was a collection of antique gold coins, definitely not what he was looking for.  Cursing to himself, he began to leave the room.  Then he suddenly stopped and took a look around again.

Something was off.

It only took him a couple of seconds to realize that the dimensions of this room did not fit the plans that Heero had made him memorize.  He began to pace around the chamber, pausing every once and a while to inspect something.  He finally picked up a hideously ornate statue of a cherub to reveal a keypad hiding underneath it.  

He pulled out his code breaker and hooked it up.  Numbers flashed on the little gadget's screen and Quatre punched them in.

The wall in front of him smoothly moved to the side to reveal a gray elevator.   He walked over to it and carefully studied the controls, and then he opened the maintenance panel and considered the wiring inside.  This elevator was for going deep underground, which was pretty damn suspicious when he considered that this place wasn't supposed to even have a basement.

The blonde hesitated.  Whatever the elevator led to was completely unknown, he would be going in blind.  And yet, this could answer all his questions, and hold the key to stopping Orth.  It required another code to get the thing moving, but Quatre merely played with the wires a bit and soon had it rigged so that he could use it manually.  He closed the secret wall behind him, and then stepped in to begin his ride.

When he felt it begin to slow to a stop he drew his gun and pressed himself against the smooth metal wall.  The door slowly opened.

Nothing happened.

He peaked out, weapon barrel first.  A long white hallway stretched before him, empty.  His luck was pretty damn good today.  No one was around.  He briefly stepped back into the elevator and pealed off the metal plate to the maintenance panel again.  Hidden amidst the wiring he set one of the explosives from his belt. 

Just in case.

Weapon out he began to head through the hall.  His soft-soled shoes made no sound against the white industrial tiles of the floor.  He planted several more bombs along his way.  Quatre might not be as stealthy as the god of death, but he could definitely hold his own.

A door opened ahead of the blonde, and he heard voices.  With a silent curse he ducked into the nearest door, shutting it carefully behind him.  The voices got louder.  _Shit, they're going to come in here._  It was a small room.  There were several ugly green chairs and a couple of brown plastic tables.  A snack machine stood alone in the corner.  Quatre's eyes suddenly fell on a vent; he had nearly not noticed it because it was painted as white as the walls.  Moving quickly, he jumped up on a table and yanked the plating out of the wall.  He shoved the metal into the air duct ahead of him and then pulled himself up and climbed through.  The blonde had just set the square of metal back over the entrance when the door opened.  He peaked through the slits.  Two men in white lab coats were taking a break.  One of them began to curse and pound on the snack machine as it refused to work.

He turned and began to crawl through the ventilation system.  It was a tight fit, and for once Quatre was grateful to be small of stature.  He stopped at the first opened vent he saw and peeked out.  More white hallway, also empty.  He checked two more openings, but there was nothing of interest.  His knees were just starting to get sore when he came to a fourth vent and peeked out.

His breath caught in his throat.  Quatre had a feeling he had found what he was looking for.

A huge lab spread out before him, filled with white-coated men and women and others who were obviously security personnel.  A glass-plated observation room made up the upper half of the north wall.  Metal-plated doors dotted the ground floor.  But what really caught Quatre's attention were the things lined up just to his right.

Cages.

Just like Mia had described.  Some of the holding boxes were occupied, while others were not.  The ones that were not looked brownish-red in color, like they had been left to rust. 

 But it wasn't rust.  It was old blood. 

Quatre drew in a shaky breath as bile rose in his throat.  For a second he had to fight the urge to break through the vent with guns drawn and kill as many of the monsters that allowed this as he could.  But there were to many, he'd be mowed down himself before he could put a satisfactory dent in their numbers.  That would not save the survivors.

He quickly flipped out his communicator and contacted Heero.

"Yuy."

"Heero, I found something.  A lot of something actually.  Orth has an underground lab.  I reached it through a hidden elevator in the east wing, in room 10b on the plans, there was a button underneath a statue.  They've got people here, it's just like with Mia's brother."  

As he watched one of the white-coats gestured to several guards.  The guards moved to one of the cages and snatched out a teenaged girl with brown hair.  They dragged her, shrieking, across the lab.  Following the doctor into one of the side doors.

"Damn it.  They're taking a girl now.  I'm not going to let them do anything to her Heero."

"Quatre, get out of there.  Wait for me outside the estate, I'll bring back up and then we can go in."

"No, this is my company Heero.  I'm not letting these people destroy any more lives.  This is my responsibility."

"I know you're not the traitor, you don't have to prove anything to me!"

"I know.  But I have to do this."

"Damn it!  Quatre . . ." the blonde shut off the communicator, cutting Heero off.

Quatre scrambled as quickly as he could through the ducts.  He wasn't going to let what had already happened to so many others happen to that girl.  The shaft branched out in three separate directions.  He quickly calculated the relevant spaces in his head and then took the branch on the far left; it should lead to where the girl had been taken. 

The screaming was what first alerted him that he had found her.  He crawled to the vent and raised his head to look threw the slits.  The cries assembled into words.

"Please don't do this!  You can't!  People will miss me!"  The pleading girl was strapped down.  Brown restraints bound her wrists and ankles to a metal table.  The men in the room, two doctors and three guards, were acting like she wasn't saying actual words.  To them she was just another lab rat.

"One full dose should be enough, it will travel through the subjects blood stream faster with the increased heart rate."  The man in the lab coat turned to one of the armed guards.  "You'll need to shoot to kill if she gets loose.  Shortly after being injected nerve endings will stop firing and the subject won't be able to feel pain.  A disabling shot won't do any good."

"I understand."

One of the lab guys carefully carried a syringe over to the struggling young woman.  It was filled with a crimson liquid that looked more like fruit punch then blood.  She began to get even more frantic when she saw it.  "No!  Keep that away from me, please!  Don't make me like the others!"

Three guards armed with machine guns, two doctors.  He made note of the exits.  Quatre pulled his other gun as he planted both feet firmly against the metal grating.  He pushed hard with his leg muscles and the vent broke away from the wall and began to fall to the floor below.  He followed mere seconds after, guns out and firing.

The first shot from each gun took out a guard, one hit between the eyes, the other a clean shot through the throat.  The third was still reaching for his own weapon when Quatre's next bullet went through his upper chest, it wasn't as perfect a hit as he would have liked.  The blonde had to fire again to finish him off.

He was in no mood to be merciful.

The men in white lab coats were just beginning to react.  The farthest away from the girl reached for one of the dead men's guns that had skidded toward his feet.  Three bullets went through his chest before he could complete the action.

The doctor with the syringe had not moved.  He was frozen in shock.  Quatre bounded easily the rest of the way across the floor and kicked the needle out of his hand.  It shattered against the far wall, fruit punch-colored liquid and spilled blood mingling until they were inseparable.

The ex-pilot knocked him to the floor and then stood over him, gun pointed steadily at his face.  "Where does that door lead?  Quickly, tell me!"

The man in the white lab coat whimpered.  "It, it leads to the, the main hallway," he stuttered.  The man suddenly jumped to his feet and raced to the door, not believing that the boy with the guns would let him live, that the only chance he had was to get away.

For a split second Quatre aimed the gun at the back of the doctor's head, then he pulled it away and shot him in the foot instead.  _I can't execute an unarmed man with his back to me!  What did I almost do?_  The blonde shook himself and hurried over to the bound girl.  He holstered his guns and drew his knife to cut through the restraints.

She whimpered when she saw the blade.  "I'm not going to hurt you, okay?  I'm here to get you out.  I'm just going to cut these off of you."  The blonde was painfully aware of the seconds ticking by.  It was only a matter of time until someone came to investigate the gunfire.

She finally nodded, hazel eyes wide.  The bindings were no match for gundanium, and very quickly he had her free and started to help her off the table. "I'm Quatre.  What's your name?"

"Carly," she whispered breathily.  This was a lot for a normal person to handle.  He could tell that she was going into shock, and was impressed that he had gotten this much response out of her.

"We need to get out of here now, okay Carly?  You need to stay close to me and be as quiet as you can.  Can you do that for me?"

She stared at him for a second and then nodded again, clinging to his arm as if afraid he'd disappear if she let go.  He led her out of the bloodied room as quickly as possible.  As they ran down the featureless white hallways alarms began to blare, a discordant, ugly sound.

There was movement up ahead.

Quatre dove to the floor, dragging Carly down with him and covering her body with his.  He rolled them into the wall and yanked his gun out, squeezing the trigger as soon as he sighted on his target.  The guard crumpled to the ground like a rag doll.

He hauled the girl back to her feet.  She slowed slightly as they passed the body, dragging at his arm as she saw the dead man.  "We have to hurry!"  He reminded her.  Carly looked at him in mute shock, but allowed him to speed up their pace past the body.

"The intruder is over here!"  Somebody shouted behind him.  Quatre cursed and pulled the girl with him, turning a corner and almost running into another figure.  Violet eyes, a black priest's outfit, and a braid.

The blonde's gun wasn't pointed forward.  But Duo Maxwell's was.  It was already pointed at Quatre.

He fired.

**Notes:  **I am pure evil!  (Holds pinkie finger to lips and laughs like Dr. Evil).  I guess everyone will have just have to wait for the next chapter, but believe me it won't be long.  I'm still on a deadline after all.  Just in case you're all curious, I'm only planning 15 chapters for this so we're getting close to the end. 

I hope the switch from the last chapter to this one wasn't to confusing.  Basically Quatre just went home with his sisters, slept, got up the next morning, got smothered by his sisters again, and then went to the party.  Nothing happened, really.  It was boring, so I didn't write about it.

I love all you reviewers!  Please keep them coming!  I need all the help I can get . . .


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer:**  Don't own them.  The only money I'll be making will be coming from that lucky lotto ticket . . .

**Warning:**  Violence (and lots of it), swearing, yaoi (1X4).

Chapter 12 

Duo fired.

The bullet sailed past Quatre's left ear with a whoosh of displaced air, hitting the guard who had been coming up fast behind them.  Duo grabbed Quatre's arm and pulled him, and by extension the girl, Carly, around the corner.  Gunfire riddled the wall where they had just stood.

The braided pilot leaned out quickly and returned fire.  "Okay Q, do you mind telling me what the hell is going on?"

Quatre didn't answer right away.  For a second he had thought his friend was going to shoot him.  He was shaken, but this proved beyond a doubt that Duo was not the traitor.  Still . . . "How'd you find me?"

"Followed you.  Nobody out sneaks the god of the death, not even you.  I knew you were lying to us about something, and then I saw you talking to Heero on that communicator.  So I'll ask again.  What the fuck are you into?"

"Everett Orth is using my company to fund illegal projects.  This particular facility is being used to manufacture some kind of aggression drug, and he's kidnapping people to test it out on.  Heero was aware of it, and that's why he's leading Red Thorn."  Quatre covered Duo while he reloaded.

"What does Mr. Emotionally Impaired think he's doing?  He could of called us!"  The braided boy snapped the clip in and joined the blonde again in picking off guards.

"No Duo, one of our friends is in league with Orth."

"What?!  Heero's paranoia must be contagious to you Quatre."

"It's true.  I didn't want to believe it at first either."

"Then what made him trust _you_?  How come he sent you here?"

"That's . . .well, it's complicated."

"When is anything with that guy simple?  All right Q, I don't know if I buy this whole traitor angle, but I trust you.  What do we do now?  You said there are people here being used as lab rats?"  Duo glanced at the terrified girl still clinging to Quatre.  "I'm guessing you rescued her.  Are there more?"

"Yes, and we can't leave them here.  These people put no value on human life.  They don't care if their victims die horribly from the drug!  They'll probably kill all their subjects once they find that the base has been compromised.  If we leave, their dead."

"So then what are we waiting for?  Let's get them out!"  Duo reached into his vest and pulled out a grenade.  He set it and then briefly broke cover to toss it down the hallway.  There was a brief silence, and then panicked shouts as the security men realized what had been sent among them.  

Then there was a very big boom.

Duo grinned maniacally.  "Well that cleaned out that nest of snakes.  Let's go!"

They ran through the smoke and the flashing red alarms back toward the lab.  The violet-eyed boy leading, weapons drawn, with Quatre and Carly bringing up the rear.  The girl continued to clutch at his arm, and though he would probably need it free later the blonde did not have the heart to shake her off yet.

They sprinted through the room where the bad guys had tried to inject the girl, the man the Arabian pilot had wounded was still there moaning on the floor, and then they moved out into another hallway.

"Down!"

Quatre dove to the floor as bullets pinged through the air above their heads.   This time he didn't have to pull Carly down with him because she was already moving that direction herself as soon as she heard the other boy's shout.  She caught on real quick.

Duo tossed another grenade, clearing out the area ahead.  They finally reached the lab, and Quatre shot the last two guards between them and the cages.

Of course they also had the doctors to deal with.  As soon as the men in white coats had heard the alarms they had took action.  Not killing subjects like the blonde had originally thought, but injecting them.  They had only had the time to get to three, no one was stupid enough to stand still to be lethally injected, but that turned out to be enough.  The men put the drug-crazed people between the pilots and themselves and then made their escape out the other doors.

A blonde girl in her twenties who would have been pretty if not for the expression of rage twisting her features jumped at Duo.  He tried to grab her and hold her still, but she sunk her teeth into his restraining arm.  He howled and then kicked her off of him, tossing her halfway across the floor.

"Son of a bitch!  She took a fucking chunk out of me!"  Duo raised his gun and pointed it at her as she jumped back up from the ground, apparently not feeling any pain.  She spit at him angrily and started to move back towards him.  "Don't come any closer lady!  I don't want to hurt you!"

The crazed blonde didn't even appear to hear him.  She rushed at him, and at the last possible second he shot her in the left leg.

It didn't even slow her down.

She tackled him for a second time and only his battle honed instincts allowed him to use her own momentum to throw her over and behind him.  Quatre recalled the conversation he had heard earlier.  "Duo!"  He called out.  "Shooting to disable won't do any good, once the drug is injected they don't feel any pain!"

"What the hell am I supposed to do then?  I can't kill them!  It's not their fault that there here!"  The blonde couldn't have given an answer to that even if he had wanted to.  The other two subjects had rushed him, and it was getting hard to fight them off.  His spare gun went sailing across the lab.

Things were not going well.  Hampered by their unwillingness to kill, and the pain cushioning rage held by their attackers, they began to have to fall back.  Duo had run out of bullets and was not given any time to reload.  Quatre had the same problem with his remaining gun, and had drawn his knife instead.

Pilot 02 was suddenly knocked into the blonde and they both went sprawling.  Precious seconds were lost as they untangled themselves, and neither saw the crazed man about to plunge a scalpel into Quatre's unprotected back.

A shot rang out.  

The drugged man with the sharp instrument fell to his knees as blood bloomed rose-shaped across his chest.  They both looked up, and realizing what had almost happened, glanced at the source of the shot.  

Carly was holding Quatre's spare gun shakily in both hands.   Her green eyes were wide with surprise at her own actions when she spoke to the pilots.   "They're beyond saving.  I saw what happened when the others were given the drug.  If they run out of people to kill they'll turn on themselves, they'll die anyway, and in a much worse way."  She glanced at the other prisoners in the cages, and they nodded in unhappy agreement.

She sent the gun  skidding across the floor to Duo, and then looked him in the eyes.  She had gotten over her shock.  "Please make it quick for them, that's how I would want it for me."

The braided boy hesitated, and then nodded solemnly.  He turned the gun on the snarling people-turned-experiments, and executed them both with two quick, clean, shots to the throat.  

For a second there was silence.  Then Duo let out a shuddering breath and slowly lowered the gun.  He remained unmoving for several moments and then hesitantly turned and looked into his friend's eyes.  They did not contain the condemnation he was clearly expecting.  All he saw in them was compassion and sorrow.

"You should have let me do it Duo," the blonde murmured unhappily.

"No Q, I really shouldn't have."  He turned and walked to the cages, planning to release the people trapped within.  _We need to get them out of here.  I refuse to let anyone else die._  Quatre met the eyes of one of the female  prisoners, and saw hope reflected there.  The hope that maybe, just maybe, she would live. 

And he watched her eyes as they darted behind him, and widened in terror.

The paralyzing sound of guns being cocked echoed through the lab.

The blonde turned slowly, careful to make no sudden movements.  There were at least fifteen stone-faced men uniformed in  security personnel clothing, all holding guns trained on them.  Quatre heard Duo curse behind him.

A ripple stirred through the crowd of killers, and the two in front stepped aside to let somebody pass, and Everett Orth stood facing them.  It was the same persona that had peeked out at Quatre when he was six.  Gone was the charming man who had the whole world so enthralled.  Instead he was a cold-eyed bastard holding a gun, as stone-faced as the rest of his soldiers.  In this secret lab beneath his home, Orth no longer hid what he was.

A remorseless monster.

"Quatre Raberba Winner.  You really shouldn't have come here.  I wasn't going to have you killed until after I married your sister."  He shook his head sadly.  "Now it will have to be much earlier."

"Like hell you will!"  Duo shouted angrily.

Orth frowned, and calmly turned and shot the braided pilot in the leg.

"Duo!"  Quatre cried.  He took a step toward him, but was stopped when Orth spoke again.

"Take one more step, dear brother-in-law, and my next bullet will go through his heart."

The blonde turned and looked at him, eyes full of helpless fury.  He was beginning to wish he had gone with his initial impulse at the party and just slit the man's throat then.  "Why are you doing this Orth?  What do you hope to gain by subjecting all these people to your sick experiments?"

Orth smiled, a slow, sickening twist of his lips that froze the Arabian's insides.  "I hope to gain what every man in history has desired.  Power.  Which, as you well know, goes hand in hand with money, and I will soon be making a wonderful amount."  Orth moved to a metal tray and picked up a syringe filled with scarlet liquid.  "With this I will accomplish all my goals.  My scientists have dubbed it the Red Formula.  It enhances aggression, turns the subject into an enraged killing machine that does not feel pain, that cannot be swayed by any prettily phrased pleas.  Can you imagine dropping a batch of injected people on enemy territory?  It would be a blood bath."  He's eyes positively gleamed with these words.  "Do you know how much certain groups would pay me to get a hold of it?  You could infect your enemies and send them into their own homes, and they would do all the work for you.  And with these psychopathic killers on the loose, the current government will have no choice but to rethink its policy on weapons.  Excuse the bad pun, but I'll make an absolute killing at the market."

Quatre stared at him.  "Do you realize how insane you sound?"

"Now Quatre, don't be rude.  Do you remember what happened the last time?"  He chuckled.  "After all, all out war is so much more profitable.  Besides I would have thought _you_ of all people would be happy to return to the glorious days of heroic battle.  After all, during the war you joyfully killed countless numbers, and were applauded for it." 

_Shit!  He knows I was a Gundam Pilot, but how?_  

"They were glorious days indeed," a new voice interrupted.  "It weeded out the weak far better than any plagues of old."

_Allah save us!  I know that voice!_

The guards parted again, and a woman stepped up next to Everett Orth.  She looked different than Quatre was used to seeing her.  Her hair was tied severely back from her face into two buns, and round glasses perched on her nose.  She wore an old Oz uniform.

It was Lady Une.

**Notes:**  Oh come on.  Are any of you really surprised?  Obviously I wasn't going to make Duo a traitor.  Half of you already guessed it was Une in the reviews.  But maybe the reasons behind her actions will surprise you . . .

Okay.  The stuff with the people in the cages?  I depressed myself.  But Quatre can't save everyone.  Also, I had some trouble with this chapter, and I hope the action didn't come out to stilted.  If it did feel free to bitch.

Thanks for all your reviews!  I'm glad that none of you are going to have to kill me for making Duo a traitor.  I want to live!


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer:**  Don't own.  No money made here.  

**Warning:  **Contains violence, swearing, and yaoi.

Chapter 13 

Quatre stared at her, shock blooming painfully through his heart like a thorny vine.  Lady Une really did look different, and it wasn't just her physical appearance.  He looked into her face and saw someone else looking back at him through her eyes.  Someone merciless.

"My beautiful Colonel, how good of you to join us," Orth said.  He reached over and pulled her hand to his lips.

Une did not look charmed by his actions; in fact she looked disdainful, like she was looking at a particularly revolting spider.  Useful for keeping the fly population down, but not something you'd want close to you.  She pulled away as soon as was polite to do so.

"Orth," she greeted coldly.  There was a world of scorn conveyed in that one world.  He had no military title.  He was a civilian.  It was clear to Quatre that she looked down on him for that.

"Lady Une?!"  Came Duo's astonished voice.  "Why are you doing your hair like the Swiss Miss Lady?"

Une glared at the wounded boy.  "Why didn't you shoot to kill, Orth?  It's the only way to get that one to _shut up_."

The blonde thought it prudent to interrupt before the man could answer.  "Why Lady Une?  Why would you betray the peace that so many died for?  The peace that Trieze Kushrenada sacrificed himself for?"

The woman had her gun out and pointed at Quatre in seconds.  "Don't you dare say his name in conjunction with peace!  How can we live without battle?  People are only really alive when they have a chance at death, in peace they atrophy, their instincts for survival shriveling like their muscles.  I'm only living when I continue to follow the great General's ideals.  His were the ideals of war, where only the strong survive!"

Quatre could almost hear the click as the pieces fell into place in his head.  _I'm only living when I continue to follow the great Generals ideals.  Trowa told me about this!  It's Une's other personality, the one that's a soldier to her core!_  

The blonde looked at Orth.  "What did you do to her?"  He asked softly.

Everett smirked.  "It's a funny thing, really.  My greatest and most useful ally came from an accident.  When Lady Une found out that W.E. was going to be financing the Preventers she got suspicious.  She caused a great deal of trouble for me with her superiors, she almost had them convinced to not except my donations.  So I had my men bring her here so that we could have a little 'chat'.  She was terribly obstinate about the whole thing, and so I had her injected with the Red Formula.  After all, there was no reason to waste a good bullet when we were in need of test subjects anyway."

He smiled slightly, ruefully.  "But on her the drug had some unforeseen affects.  It seems that to someone with Une's, oh how do I say this delicately, um . . . mental history, the Red Formula has different consequences.  Instead of upping aggression levels and sending her into a killing rage, it drew out her dormant, dangerous, personality.  It split her aggressive side from her weak compassionate side.  She swings from one personality to the other, and the Une that's the Lady is completely unaware of what the Colonel does in her absence."

"And soon we will find a way to rid me of the Lady completely," Une reminded him forcefully.

"Yes of course," Orth said.  "We will have to do more experiments on others who have had multiple personality disorder.  It could vary a great deal from patient to patient because the mind is such a complex tool.  Maybe some would be affected differently.  It will be fascinating to find out."

"Yes, yes," Une didn't appear to have too much patience with Orth's psychological interests.  She again held her gun pointed at Quatre as she spoke to her partner.  "Enough of this.  I realize that you're enjoying rubbing your accomplishments into young Master Winner's face, but if there's one thing I've learned, you don't leave Gundam pilots alive.  They have a tendency to win against impossible odds.  This is too important for me to take that risk." 

"Watch closely 02," she called to Duo, "your friend is about to die."

The blonde glimpsed movement from behind her, from the glass covered observation room.

She took a step forward, and started to pull the trigger.

But the next bullet to be fired did not come from Une's weapon.  It came from Heero Yuy, who shot the gun out of her hand.  There was a brief moment of stillness, as everyone watched the blasted weapon spin to the floor.

Then chaos erupted.

Heero had come to help him, and he had brought Red Thorn along.   Quatre processed what had happened in about three-fifths of a second.  Then he dove forward and slammed into Orth.  They went down hard, in a tangle of pummeling limbs as the blonde took out his rage on the man.  Bullets rained down from above, onto the lab security guards.  Mia leaped down, and with Heero laying cover fire, grabbed Carly and pulled the girl out of range of stray projectiles.  Duo rolled toward the wall, bullet wound and all, and retrieved his own weapon, joining the firefight.

Quatre slammed his sister's fiancé's head into the floor.  The man went limp.  Before he could finish him off, Colonel Une tackled him.  They went skidding across the floor, and the blonde was hard pressed to fight her off.  Nearly every blow the woman tried to land on him was meant to be lethal, some he even recognized as having been taught to her by Trowa or Wufei.  She also seemed to have the same pain tolerance that the other subjects of the Red Formula experiment had possessed, making it difficult to take her out of the fight with out killing her.  And Quatre was damned if he was going to do that.  

If the drug had affected her differently, than there was a chance she could be saved.

"Lady Une!  Listen to me!  You have to fight this!"  He caught her hands before they could close around his throat.  "You have a responsibility to protect peace!  You're a Preventer!"  There had to be something that would trigger the change from one personality to another.  Trowa had said that the simplest phrases had sometimes made her switch during the war.  Talking about Trieze hadn't helped, but . . . "Une!  You have a responsibility to make the world a better place for Trieze's daughter.  You have to be a mother to Marameia!"

She went limp suddenly, and then lifted her head to look at him.  "Marameia."  She blinked and looked down at him.  "Quatre?  What's going on?  How did I get here?"  She looked up, puzzled, to see the terrorists mopping up the rest of the guards.  Her eyes widened.  "That's Red Thorn!"

And then the shit really hit the fan.

"Freeze!"  An unknown voice barked out.  "This is the Preventers!  Lay down your weapons and no one will be harmed!"  Quatre looked up to see a large contingency of uniformed agents spreading out.  Included in their number were Sally, Trowa, and Wufei.

"It's the corporations puppet's!"  Someone from Red Thorn screamed out, Quatre thought it was Byers.  "We can't let them take us!"  Shots were suddenly fired from both sides.  The blonde cursed and pulled Une with him under a table.

"Stop firing!  Preventers, stop firing now!"  Sally screamed.  Heero and Mia were making similar demands on Red Thorn.

Quatre peaked out from under the table as the stream of bullets began to taper off.  He happened to glance toward one of the north doors.

In all the confusion Everett Orth was escaping.

"Like hell!"  The blonde hissed, and launched himself after the bastard, bruises and lacerations ignored.

 "Quatre!"  He heard Heero yell after him as he cleared the doorway.

But he wasn't going to stop.  Orth was not getting away.

The man was fast, the blonde had to give him that, and sure-footed too.  Quatre slipped and nearly fell in a pool of blood decorating the floor, but he managed to catch himself just in time, losing precious seconds.  Orth was almost to the elevator, and Quatre smiled grimly.  He reached into his pocket and pressed the detonator to the bomb he had planted inside the wiring, diving to the floor at the same moment. 

The elevator doors exploded outwards, catching the fleeing man and knocking him to the floor.  Shards of debris speckled the hallway.  The ex-pilot jumped to his feet and headed to Orth before the noise from the bomb had finished ringing in his ears.  That proved to be a mistake.

Another of Orth's security guards jumped him and sent him to the floor again.  Quatre hadn't heard him come up.  They tussled, and then finally the blonde managed to pinch a bundle of nerves in the man's neck that made him go limp.  He made a move to get up but something hard suddenly hit him in the back of the head.

Quatre blinked fuzzily, coming to after only about ten seconds of unconsciousness.  Orth was holding him, his hand pulling Quatre's left sleeve up and away from the skin of his arm.

He still had the dose of Red Formula from the lab.

He plunged the needle through the skin.

**Notes:**  Okay short chapter I know, but I wanted to end it there.  What can I say, I like cliffhangers.  (GreenLady runs to hide under desk from outraged readers).

There was a clue to Une being the unknowing traitor in chapter ten.  It was kind of a blink-and-you-miss-it-deal.  Anybody know what it was?  (You'll probably come up with better clues then the one I actually put in there.  Maybe I'll be able to sound smarter than I actually am).

Kasra, thanks!  For the life of me I couldn't remember what Une's rank was in Oz, and then you were kind enough to hand me the answer.  Thanks to all of you that praised my action scenes, especially my "action-critic."  I love you guys!

Two chapters to go!


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer:**  If I owned them I'd be able to pay back my student loans.  (Checks wallet.)  Nope.  Still poor and in debt.

**Warning:**  Violence, swearing and yaoi. 

Chapter 14 

Orth pulled the now empty syringe out of Quatre's arm.  He cradled the blonde almost lovingly in his arms as he bent down to whisper in his ear.  "Can you feel it burning through your blood stream yet?  It won't take long; it never did with any of the others.  I'm going to leave you here for your friends to find.  Which one will find you first, do you think?  Your loyal braided friend, maybe?  Or perhaps it will be that Chinese Preventer agent?  Or maybe even the boy who brought Red Thorn to your rescue?  Whoever it is, they'll lean over to see if your hurt, get within arms length, and then you'll choke the life out of them.  But who knows," he murmured gently, "maybe you'll get lucky, maybe they'll kill you first."  

Quatre could make no reply.  The disorientation that he had felt from the knock on his head was transforming into something else.  Something that felt very, very wrong.

Orth lay the blonde on the ground and stood up.  Several of his security men rounded the corner.  "Sir!  We've been looking for you.  We'll get you to the north exit."  They stepped up smartly to their battered employer and began to lead him away from the shattered blonde and the destroyed elevator.

There was a sharp cracking sound and the guard on Orth's right stopped suddenly in mid step.  His body gradually folded, falling in slow motion, landing in a crumpled heap on the unforgiving floor. 

Heero Yuy burst out of a side passage.  His body coming not far behind the second lethal bullet he had fired at the other bodyguard.  He slammed into Everett Orth, tossing him into the wall.  The cobalt-eyed boy slid to a stop at the Arabian's side.

"Quatre!"  He shook him, but there was no response from the blonde.  His sharp eyes noticed the empty syringe lying discarded by his side.  In a flash he was up again, grabbing the dazed Orth by the throat and shaking him.  "What did you do to him?  What did you do?!"  

He tried to speak but all that came out was a wet gurgling sound.  Belatedly Heero realized that he couldn't talk while his throat was being crushed.  He loosened his hand just enough to allow speech.

"He-I-the Red Formula," Orth finally managed to cough out.

"How do I stop it?"  He shook the man violently.  "God damn it, how do I stop it?!  There's got to be an antidote-something!  Tell me!"

Orth was trying to figure out how to explain that the drug was unstoppable without getting his trachea crushed by the violent young man who currently had a hold on him.  Suddenly he looked beyond Heero's shoulders, and smiled, no longer worried.  "You can't stop it.  He'll go crazy and rip apart anyone in his reach, then he'll do the same to himself, if you don't kill him first."

The look in the man's eyes was enough to let the perfect soldier no that they were no longer alone.  He spun suddenly, pushing Orth in front of him as a human shield.  It was a good thing, too.  Four more guards had shown up, and the first bullet fired went through Everett's shoulder.  Ironically right in the place where he had taken the deflected projectile from the assassin that he had hired to kill Relena.  He groaned and fell to the side.  Heero used the distraction to jump behind another wall and use it as cover.

Everett Orth, bleeding from a gunshot wound as well as previous abrasions, began to crawl past the still prone Quatre, his intent to take cover in the damaged elevator.

But his plan would never take place.  While Heero had been trying to shake answers out of Orth, Quatre's brain chemistry had been changing.  Neurons fired at a rapid pace, and began to redirect themselves.  His gray matter finally began to reorder itself in a pattern that it had taken only once before.  

Orth had made a costly mistake in injecting the blonde.  He had not done his research well enough, and so had never heard of the zero system and the massive damage Quatre had inflicted in outer space while using it.  But even if he had known about it, he might have dismissed it.  After all, that was machine based, and had caused no permanent damage to the brain, right?

Wrong.

Quatre had gone crazy _before_ he built Wing Zero.  When he had seen his father die.  For such a sensitive person as Quatre, seeing a loved one's death, and especially _feeling_ it, while, it had broken him.  His mind had pulled out the only defense it had.

Another Quatre.  Colder and harder.  In essence, it had created another personality. 

The blonde's eyes snapped open.  His reordered brain told him that his enemy was only inches away from him.  He moved, almost too fast for the eye to follow.  He rolled over until he was next to Orth's head, then he grabbed the man's neck.

And snapped it.

Seconds later he was on his feet.  He yanked the remaining explosives from his belt.  They were meant to be stuck to a flat surface; and then exploded with the detonator from a distance, but Quatre didn't use them that way.  He bundled them up in a little ball, and then tossed them with all his might towards the two guards that Heero had not yet managed to pick off.  

They landed, unnoticed, several feet behind the doomed men.  The blonde took the detonator out of his pocket.  Heero had seen the explosives land, and he turned astonished eyes on Quatre, then he jumped far behind the wall and took cover as the blonde pushed the button.

The resulting blast shook the entire building, causing plaster to rain down on them from the ceiling.

In the aftermath of the explosion the two ex-pilots stared at each other.  Heero took a single step toward the other boy and then halted abruptly.  He couldn't help but notice the empty, blank expression in the blonde's eyes.  He had seen that look before.  His own eyes widened in comprehension.

Footsteps sounded behind Heero.  Wufei ran forward to Heero, while Trowa came behind, supporting Duo.  The braided boy took one look at the blonde and, pain forgotten, started to run forward.

Heero held an arm in his way, stopping him short.  He looked at the boy blocking his path, eyes wide.  "Hey, what's going on?"  

Heero spoke flatly, his voice without inflection.  "Orth injected Quatre with the Red Formula."

Duo looked at him with disbelief.  "Um, dude?  I was in the room with those other people who were on it."  He held up his bitten arm for emphasis.  "See?  If it was in Quatre he'd be trying to tear us apart right now."

"Not if he was like Une."

"What?  I . . ." comprehension suddenly dawned.  "Ah shit, the zero system."

"Yes."

Duo turned to the blonde.  "Hey, Q snap out of it, okay?  We need you, buddy."

Quatre's face was slack, his eyes empty.  "Need . . . me?"  He murmured, almost to soft to be heard.

"Yeah, come on back to us and we can all head out for a day of fun.  I mean hey, we deserve it, right?  Maybe we could go to an amusement park or the beach or something cool like that."  The other ex-gundam pilots were quiet, allowing Duo to try and bring their friend back.

Quatre's face had focused on the word "fun."  He turned and walked a couple of feet backwards, until he was standing by the dead body of his sister's fiancé.  "Fun . . ." he whispered tonelessly.  He squatted on his heels and stared into the body's glassy eyes.  He tilted his head questioningly, until it almost looked like he was trying to imitate the corpse, with its neck twisted at such an unnatural angle.  He smiled suddenly, the expression completely devoid of humor, more going through the motions of conveying feeling than actually feeling anything.

"I don't think he was having fun when I broke his neck."  Quatre moved away from the body abruptly, ignoring his friends standing frozen in surprise at his words.  He kicked a sheet of metal out of the way, revealing the gun that Orth had before the elevator exploded and blew it out of his hands.  He bent down to pick it up.

There was a click behind him.  "Don't touch it Quatre," Heero said warningly.  His voice was steady, but the other boys could pick up the strain underneath.

The blonde arrested his downward movement.  "Why not Heero?  I won't use it on any of you.  You're my allies after all."  He spun suddenly, locking eyes with each of them.  "Why don't you see it?  We failed.  We fought, we bled, we killed, and the world still won't accept peace.  There's always going to be somebody like Everett Orth.  Somebody that we need to kill."

"No Quatre, we didn't fail.  The world isn't like it was during the war," Trowa said, green eyes piercing, intently trying to get through to his friend like he did once before.  "There won't always be somebody to kill."

"It's interesting how you worded that, Trowa.  The only way there won't be anyone to kill is if there's no one left."  Quatre's damaged mind began to present him with new images, and a new objective.  He smiled, the expression chillingly sweet.  "Then there would truly be peace."

Heero stared at him, and then lowered his gun and dropped it to the floor.  "That's not peace Quatre," he said quietly, "what you're describing, that's death."

"Then maybe death and peace are one and the same."  The blonde bent back down, and grabbed up the gun.  He pointed it at Heero.  "Maybe you'd like to finally be at peace," he said thoughtfully, "maybe that's the only way."

"Shit Quatre that's not . . ." Duo was cut off abruptly by Heero holding up his hand for quiet.  

"Maybe it is."  Heero started to move, very slowly, inching his way toward Quatre.

"Don't come any closer!  I don't want to have to hurt you again!"  The blonde's voice was shrill, but his gun hand was still rock steady.  "Go away Heero!"

"I'm not leaving Quatre," Heero said quietly, in an eerie echo of the past.  "You conquered the zero system, you can move beyond this too."  He kept moving until he was only about five feet away from the other pilot.

"Stop Heero, stop!  Stay away!"  His gun hand shook, and suddenly he fired.  But because his hand was shaking, the bullet went straight through the other boy's shoulder.

Heero didn't even flinch.  He showed no reaction to having a hole in his body.  He just kept moving.

"Heero, oh Allah, please stay away!"  Now the blonde was backing up, away from the advancing boy.

"I told you already, Quatre, you can't get rid of me, not unless you really want to kill me."

"I-I should.  We're just obsolete soldiers, Heero.  The only thing left in life for us is death!"

"No, you're wrong.  We do have something to live for.  We have each other.  Obsolete soldiers we may be, but that doesn't mean we can't move away from our pasts."

"Not move away from our pasts?!  That's not what you said to me before!  You told me I couldn't live a normal life, that it didn't work for you and it wouldn't work for me.  And you know what Heero, you were right."

"Normal, no.  But that doesn't mean we have to give up and seek death, Quatre, besides, I think we both may have been putting to much stock on being normal.  What ever you decide to do, you won't be alone in it.  You have Duo, Trowa, Wufei, Sally, and even Lady Une, when she's not crazy.  And you have me.  I won't leave you again, Quatre."

The blonde finally stopped backing up when he reached the scorched elevator.  He really didn't have anywhere else to go.  He stared at Heero, eyes no longer cold and uncaring but confused and frightened.  "But you will leave me."  His speech was strangely child-like, the voice of a child who had lost a father that had not cared enough to live.  "Everybody I want to love me leaves.  You've already done it once."

"I know.  But I won't leave again, I promise you.  If you want me, I'll stay forever."  With those last words Heero came to a stop inches away from the confused boy.

Quatre stared into his eyes, soaking in the intense emotions they contained.  "I love you Quatre.  I won't leave, we need each other."  Inside Quatre's mind, the personality the drug had brought back began to crack, losing the hate and fear needed to feed it. 

 It cracked, and then it crumbled to dust.

The blonde swayed slightly on his feet.  "Heero . . . " he whispered and then he fell forward, to be caught in his friend's arms.  Heero's knees gave out on him, from blood loss and from a much greater emotion, and they both sank to ground.  Ignoring the still bleeding bullet wound, he wrapped his arms around Quatre and held him tight.

"I won't leave, ever."

**Notes:**  Okay, that's the end of the action sequences, nothing left but my epilogue.  I realize it's kind of sappy, when Quatre's not being scary, but I couldn't help it.  And I can't believe I did two chapters in one day!  I got really caught up in this one, I haven't moved from my computer in almost three hours.  Hmm.  I need a life.

The clue was the glasses sitting on Une's desk.  Okay I admit, it was a pretty pathetic clue . . .

Card Mistress, glad I could inspire you into another fic, I hope it's a 1X4.  Diane, the Preventers were able to get there so fast because Duo contacted them to tell them he was following Quatre, I probably should have showed that some where . . . oh well.  

On a side note, can you tell I have issues with Quatre's father?  That man made me mad in a lot of ways.  Stupid pacifist.


	15. Epilogue

**Disclaimer:**  I don't claim to own Gundam Wing, this is just for fun.  No money being made here.

**Warning:**  Swearing, violence (though not in this chapter), and yaoi.

Epilogue 

**Two Weeks Later.**

Quatre walked across school grounds for the last time.

The sun shone down brightly, leaving no room for shadows.  Chattering students loaded down with books dashed past the blonde carrying his suitcase, eager to get home for a little fun before the day came to an end.  He passed a teacher, who was trying to look stern and forbidding to keep the students from having their 'fun' right here, but a small, amused smile kept sneaking on his lips.

Quatre Raberba Winner knew now that he didn't belong here.

He had spent his first week after being injected with the Red Formula in the company of a group of very discreet doctors, psychological and medical.  They had finally pronounced him fit to leave, saying that as far as they could tell there were no traces of the drug left anywhere in his system.  Though they couldn't tell him whether or not his other personality had been completely eradicated, or was just lying dormant.  Only time would tell.

Lady Une was still there with the team of specialists, though they were making significant progress.  Marameia was there also, helping her adopted mother, and her presence seemed to have the most positive affect on fixing Une's splintered brain.  Her breakdown had been kept quiet, and when she was finally well again chances were that she would rejoin the Preventers again.

After being released from the hospital, Quatre had immediately begun to shoulder his responsibilities at W.E. again.  With all the damage Everett Orth had done, there was a lot for him to do.  Some of the senior members who had backed Orth, had been giving him trouble, saying that as he wasn't twenty-one, he had no say in the company.  But with Ira backing his every decision they had no choice but to submit to his demands.  Not to mention the fact that they were scared shitless as Quatre had already gathered evidence from the secret labs against a number of them which had led to their arrests.  

The blonde had also been doing all he could to track down the family member's of those who had been experimented on.  Though it in no way compensated for their loss, he was letting those he found know that justice was being served and making sure that they were comfortable for the rest of their lives.  As for all the survivors, those that had family returned to them, and those that didn't (and there were a lot of those as mostly people that wouldn't be missed had been taken) had opted to help Quatre clean up the mess the Red Formula had made and make sure justice was served to those involved.  Carly, who had been one of this group, had been hired on as the blonde's personal secretary.  Not only was she quite good at her job, but also she was just fantastic at dealing with families who had lost people to the experiments.  She had made it her personal mission to help them and any others affected.

Terra Winner had been absolutely devastated when she had found out what her fiancé had been involved in.  But with the help of her family, she had begun to turn her depression into outrage at being betrayed.  With a new sense of purpose, Terra had also gotten involved in helping fix W.E.  The senior members were even more afraid of her than they were of Quatre.

Heero had disbanded Red Thorn.  The members had gone their separate ways, none had been arrested, though some still had to deal with being under the very close eye of the Preventers.  Wufei and Sally were keeping watch on those that could still possibly be dangerous.  As for Mia Shahar, she had found that she was better at working on the side of the law then she had ever been at being a hired gun.  She was helping the other gundam pilots clean up any and all corruption in the Preventers.  Her brother had been moved to a state of the art hospital, where Winner Enterprises was footing all the bills.  The doctors were hopeful that someday he would make a full recovery.

The blonde was jerked from his thoughts when somebody stopped in front of him.  He looked up from the grass to see Eric Davis.  Eric had been released from Red Thorn and sent back to his father shortly after the fight under Orth's house.  Quatre could see that his friend's dad stood several yards away, shaking hands and talking animatedly with the principal.  "So," Eric said hesitantly, "I hear that you're leaving school?"

"Yes, the press knows where I am now, and I have responsibilities that I really should take care of at W.E.  I heard that you weren't going to go here either anymore?"

"Yep.  My dad decided that he wants me close by."  Eric grinned, the expression lighting up his whole face and making him look almost attractive.  "After the kidnapping, he realized what he was missing, and we're going to try and get to know each other and actually act like father and son."

The blonde smiled.  "That's great!"

"Yeah, it really is.  Quatre, I just wanted you to know, I'm not going to tell anyone about your past.  I know the media would just hound you to death."  He grimaced.  "Believe me, I've gotten a little taste of what that's like in the last couple of weeks."

"Thank you, Eric."

"Yeah," he absently pushed his glasses up on his nose, "I'm the one that should be thanking you.  I know it's because of what you did that those people let me go."  He peered shyly at Quatre from behind his glasses.  "I was just wondering, if maybe we could stay friends?  I mean, I know I'm not nearly as interesting as the people you normally hang out with, but maybe we could get together some time?"

"I would love to, Eric."

"Really?"  He smiled again.  "That would be really cool!"  He glanced over at his dad who was beckoning him over.  "Looks like I have to go.  Take care of yourself Quatre."

"You too, Eric."

The blonde watched the other boy sprint over to his father.  He couldn't help but smile.  _I'm glad things are working out for him, he deserves it._

Quatre took one last look around at the schoolyard, his expression slightly wistful.  His attempt at being a normal kid had failed miserably.  His past had interfered spectacularly.

A horn honked impatiently.

Quatre glanced up to see a blue sports car.  Heero Yuy was behind the wheel.

The other pilot had kept his promise.  He had barely left the blonde's side in the past two weeks.  Not only had he became Quatre's lover, but he had also taken it upon himself to reorganize security at W.E.  It kept him busy, but he had also been put on as backup on the Preventer agent's list.  Just in case.

The blonde grinned and walked over to the car.  He casually leaned into the opened passenger side window.  "What's your hurry?"

Heero snorted.  "I've just been informed by Duo that we're all going to a fancy restaurant tonight.  And apparently I'm paying, as he says that I owe them for being stupid and not trusting them.  If we hurry, we'll have time to drop your stuff off at our apartment before we have to meet them for dinner."

Quatre's grin got wider.  He still enjoyed hearing that it was _their_ apartment.  He tossed his suitcase into the back of the vehicle.  He opened the door and got in, turning to looking at Heero as he did so.  He grinned impishly.  "It's a pity you're in such a hurry."

Heero raised an eyebrow.

"I thought maybe we could . . ." he reached over and stroked the other pilot's thigh, "_celebrate_ our new home?"

The blue car peeled out of the school parking lot so fast that it left smoking tire marks behind.

Duo and Heero were right.  Sometimes normality really was overrated.

**Notes:**  And that's the end.  I hope everyone enjoyed reading Trying Normal as much as I enjoyed writing it.  Thank you all for reviewing, especially those that were wonderful enough to leave feedback for nearly every chapter.  Diane, I did make Heero take them to a nice restaurant, you were right, it is the least he can do.  Of course, who knows if he and Quatre will ever actually get there . . .

I do plan to keep writing and submitting stories to ffnet, so keep an eye out for them.

Thanks!

GreenLady


End file.
